Naruto: The Yukage! The New Ninja Village in the Land of Snow!
by ChroniclerOfFantasies
Summary: There was once a small home outside of Konoha, where seven children and their foster mother lived. Considered outcasts, six of the children learned the ninja arts in hopes of earning the respect of the village through the title of Hokage. They were geniuses every one. The village grew to fear them and separated them. One escaped the hunt and now he returns to reclaim what he lost.
1. Chapter 1: Envy

**Chapter 1: Envy**

It's around midnight in the village hidden in the leaves. The full moon casts a peaceful glow on the village beneath, bathing the few citizens still awake with its light. The only sound that can be heard is natures' nightly song made by the buzzing of countless insects and whistling of the wind. Occasionally a tapping noise made by a hammer will shatter this nighttime ballad, but otherwise the song plays on unhindered.

Though some still linger on the villages' streets, most have already retired to their beds and only those rebuilding the town as well as the villages' countless shinobi remain awake. No one else stirs at this time of night, except for one.

Atop the cliff where the faces of Konoha's five great Kages have been carved, sits a lone figure staring at the moon above. A black, "dog ear" hooded robe covers him from head to toe. A black wooden cross the size of a long broom handle rests on his back and a tattoo of the letters "IV" are branded upon his right hand. He looks down from the moon and turns his attention to the village below. In a low voice that seems strained from sorrow he speaks to himself…

"Tell me Konoha," He whispers "How long has it been since I left you? Five years? Ten? Hmph, not that it matters I suppose, I'll have my revenge soon enough. He looks back up to the moon, now partially covered by a small cloud.

"You took five hearts, and sealed them, locking away their memories in their own sorrow. You corrupted the hearts of others until they believed events that never were." He chuckles shaking his head and starts to fiddle with a chocolate coin he pulls out of his pocket.

"You meant to take six, but one got away. You meant to corrupt more hearts, but never got the chance. Now the time has come for me to return the hearts you stole and purify the hearts you tainted." He pops the chocolate coin in his mouth, eating slowly before finally continuing.

"Wait for me, my brothers, my sisters, we'll be home soon. And this time we will not be separated by those whom we trusted."

…

"What's the matter Sakura?" says Choji, his mouth full of dumplings. "Is something wrong?" It is now well into the morning, the sun blasting light across the vibrantly colored land. Sakura sits at a table in her favorite restaurant with Choji, Shikamaru, and Ino. A solemn downcast look rests on her face as she plays with her food. Choji and the others shoot glances of concern to each other. After several tense seconds, she responds.

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" asks Shikamaru.

She answers with a slight nod.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with Sask-" Shikamaru's question stops dead in its tracks as Sakura quickly gets up and leaves the room.

"Way to go moron." says Ino.

"Aw man, what a drag…"

Her head hung low, Sakura walks through the village at a dreadfully slow pace. The village has become lively since Pain destroyed it some time ago. Bazaar's line the streets with up and coming merchants trying to build a business in the aftermath of Pain's havoc. The sound of nails being hammered into wood mixes with the idle chit chat of the villagers and shouts of playing children. Occasionally a Leaf village shinobi can be seen running here or there, most likely doing something to prepare for the upcoming war.

Staring down at her feet combined with the noise of the bazaar, Sakura fails to see or hear Kiba and Akamaru's warnings as they dash towards her at full speed. They collide right into one another and each is sent sprawling onto the ground. Sakura sits up, massaging her head from the collision. Angry and still a little dazed she says "Geez Kiba what was that for?"

Kiba quickly regains his bearings and starts to defend himself "Don't give me that! We were practically screaming for you to get out of the way! But you just kept walking towards us like some kind of zombie!"

"You did?"

"Yeah! How could you have not heard that?"

Sakura looks down at her feet. With her head clearer and her anger now gone, her face has once again been replaced with its earlier expression of dismal depression.

"Hey Sakura… you okay?"  
"I'M FINE!" she snaps, so loudly that Kiba and Akamaru both recoil in pain.

"Ah, sorry. I guess I'm not so fine after all. The uh… war preparations… have been taking their toll on me… I guess. Ah ha ha…" Sakura looks at Kiba with an unsteady gaze and an awkward smile.

Kiba stares back with a slightly puzzled expression and is clearly unconvinced, but to Sakura's pleasure, pursues the matter no further. He stands up to dust himself off and extends a hand to Sakura to help her do the same.

"That's understandable, I guess. Unfortunately there's still way more to do. In fact, that's why I'm here. Lady Tsunade wishes to see you as soon as possible. I was on my way to give a mission report to the hokage and when I got there she sent me and Akamaru to track you down. You'd better get going. With the look on her face, it must be pretty damn serious."

"All right. Thanks Kiba."

"Woof!"  
Sakura smiles and lets out a small laugh. "And you too, Akamaru!"

After saying goodbye, Sakura releases a small sigh as she watches Kiba and Akamaru take off. She then turns around and proceeds to the small, ANBU littered area reserved for the hokage after the destruction of the village.

Upon entering the room Sakura quickly notices the heavy scents of differing herbs. She's sure most assume it's because Tsunade is a medical ninja who experiments with different natural remedies, but Sakura knows it's just to hide the even heavier smell of alcohol. She looks forward and sees Tsunade sitting at a desk piled high with various papers, scrolls and maps. To the right is Shizune, carrying her trademark pig in her hands while to the left stand three others each of whom she was not expecting to see.

"Captain Yamato? Sai? Kakashi Sensei? What are you doing here?"

Yamato looks at Sakura and says "We were just wondering that ourselves. Apparently we're going on a mission, though we haven't been briefed yet."

Kakashi turns to Tsunade "This is a pretty strong group, milady. I'm assuming this is no war preparation excursion?"

"You're right Kakashi. This is an S-Rank mission."

Everyone stands in silence as the weight of her words sinks in. This _definitely_ wasn't for war preparations. The question stood though. What would it be? The most obvious answer would be something to do with the Akatsuki, but now is far too early to strike a blow against them. Especially with only a single four man team.

"Milady?" says Sakura, a mixture of fear, confusion, and concern permeating her lips.

"Quiet. And stay that way until the end of the briefing. Now as for this mission, you are going after a rogue ninja, NOT Sasuke." Tsunade quickly adds as a sudden rush of horror appears on Sakura's face "You are to track him down and eliminate him on sight. Don't bother talking, just kill him."

Yamato clears his throat. "Excuse me Lady Tsunade, just what exactly has this rogue ninja done?"

A smile creeps up on Tsunades' lips. Not one of enjoyment, but rather of frustration and agitation "I don't know." She says simply.

The room is once again silent. Did they hear that right? They're being asked to kill a ninja who, so far as anyone knows, has done absolutely nothing wrong other than leave the village?

"Lady Tsunade," says Sai, "As I recall, a rogue ninja who has yet to commit a crime was to be apprehended, not assassinated. He must have done _something._"

Suddenly a voice that seems riddled with age is heard from behind Sakura. "It is not what he has done, but what he will do."

Sakura as well as the others in the room face the door to see the village elder Utatane.

"Utatane!" Exclaims Kakashi. "What have we done to earn your presence?"

"Yes Utatane," seethes Tsunade who is clearly upset by the presence of the elder. "What HAVE we done?"

"I just came to clear things up about the mission."

"You mean you know what he's done?" asks Sakura.

"Again it's not what he's done but what he will do. As of yet he has done nothing. In fact I'd even go so far as to say that he's never committed a bad deed in his entire life. But that will change soon. And it is my entire fault. I cannot tell you why, only that this must be done. Believe me you don't want to know the truth behind this. It is a painful and cruel one. Just know that by taking his life you will be sparing him from an agony that has tormented him for many years."

'The target is a boy named Akumu Taka. He excels at genjutsu. His skills in it easily surpass even Itachi's Tsukuyomi. And his taijutsu and ninjutsu are no laughing matter either. He will fight back, but he will not kill you even if the odds are easily in his favor. He will incapacitate you and he will run away. You must NOT let that happen, understand? Good, now go. And do not fail."

Kakashi, Yamato, Sai and Sakura all leave the room to begin their mission, leaving the others behind.

"Why won't you tell us more about him, Utatane?" asks Tsunade.

The village elder turns towards the door and stares at it in silence quite some time. When she finally speaks it is little more than a whisper. "Tell me Tsunade, if you killed all of Sakura's friends and loved ones then exiled her from the village after placing a curse on her, what would you do when she sought revenge?"

"Utatane…"

"What I did was not quite that extreme yet at the same time was far worse. It is the greatest sin I have ever committed, and these aching bones of mine wish they could take back what they have done. As always, I thought I was doing it for the safety of the village. But the truth is I was jealous and afraid. Afraid of something that did not exist and jealous of something that did."

"I stole five hearts that day. I should have stolen all six, but I could not bring myself to steal the last one. Now I shall atone for my sins, in the only way I know how."

Without another word, the village elder left the room, closing the door behind her.


	2. Chapter 2: Gluttony

**Chapter 2: Gluttony**

It's been one week since team Kakashi departed on their mission. Their destination is some distance from the leaf village and is taking time to reach. Sadly due to the cost of war preparations, the village couldn't afford a faster form of transportation, forcing them to travel the whole way there on foot.

Dark clouds fill the sky as the sun sets, casting an eerie glow on the surrounding forest. A slight moistness previously unnoticed seems to fill the air and the animals have grown unusually quiet.

"It seems there's a storm coming." Observes captain Yamato. "According to this map there's a village just up ahead. We can get rooms and wait it out there."

About fifteen minutes later the group arrived at a small Inn. There they are greeted by the Inn owner, Muston.

"Well, howdy there! My names Muston and welcome to my Inn _The Nindo_! We may not be ninjas but if we were then providing great service to our customers would be our ninja way! How can I help you?"

Muston was a very large man. He was at least six and a half feet tall with arms and legs the size of tree trunks. The top of his head was completely bald but the sides were still thick with what was left of his brown hair. A long scraggly beard that hung down his face stopped at the base of his neck just above the unfastened blue vest he wore. It was adorned with sparkling gold buttons and though they weren't the most outstanding thing the group had ever seen, they seemed absolutely majestic in contrast to the mans stained and ripped white shirt or the pair of pants he had held on with a rope as a belt that seemed to be made of the same material as a rough-sack of potatoes. On anyone else his clothing would seem queer, but it manages to suit him perfectly.

"Yes we would like a room please." Said Yamato a slight giggle still in his throat from the greeting given by Muston. Sakura gave a slight cough in order to get Yamato's attention to the problem with his request.

"Ah right, make that two rooms. Sorry Sakura."

At this Sakura smiled and gave a slight nod of approval. As Yamato and Muston finished working out the arrangements the others sat down at a table to order food. After all they had been on the road for a week and biscuits and dried meat can only be withstood for so long.

As they waited for their food a young woman no older than Sakura walked over to their table. Her wavy black hair came down past her shoulder blades and her almost black eyes sparkled with a kind of sweet yet dangerous innocence. She wore a blue coat with cute white paw print markings on each shoulder and black shorts that stopped just below the knee cap also adorned the same paw print markings on the pockets. A heavy steel dagger was clipped on her right hip.

"You guys are from the hidden leaf village?" asked the young woman. Her bubbly voice matched her strange outfit.

"Why yes ma'am. Is there something you need with us?" asked Sai. "If you wish for us to partake in a mission on your behalf, I'm afraid you'll have to put in a formal request with the village. We're busy with a mission of our own."

"Hmm… that mission wouldn't happen to involve an Uchiha would it?"

The group was a bit stunned at the mention of the name. After all, the Uchiha clan only consisted of Sasuke and Madara right now. There were no others, and few even knew of the two of them. Kakashi cleared his throat to answer her question.

"No it wouldn't. Would you mind telling us why you're looking for an Uchiha?"

"I used to have a friend who was an Uchiha when I was young. My mother told me all the Uchiha had been exiled from the village years ago and I haven't been able to find him. I figured since you were leaf ninja you might know where they all went or maybe you were searching for their location or something. I guess not though huh?"

"No… I'm afraid not. Their whereabouts are… still a mystery to us. I'm sorry."

The girl called Yuna seemed a tad crestfallen at this news, but immediately perked back up a split second later. "Oh… that's too bad. Well if you run across any tell them Yuna is looking for her old friends! They'll know who I am regardless of who it is. See ya round!"

And with that, the young woman named Yuna wandered out the Inn and into the storm. Sakura was clearly confused. The Uchiha clan had been wiped out by Itachi almost ten years ago. Only Sasuke (she cringed at the name) and Madara remained. _She said the Uchihas had been exiled? Why would her mother think that? Isn't it a commonly known fact that they were killed, or is that only known in the hidden villages? _She decided to ask Kakashi-sensei as much.

"No most everyone knows about the Uchiha incident. But there are people like her who were too young to understand at the time and whose parents simply can't bear to tell them the truth of their friends' fates. Someone will tell her one day, and she'll probably have difficulty coming to grips with the truth. Hopefully though, she'll be alright in the end."

"But… how come you didn't tell her sensei?"

Kakashi sighed, taking a moment to find the most appropriate answer. "It simply isn't my place Sakura. I don't believe I'm the right one to tell that girl the truth. Perhaps if Naruto were here it would be different, but he's back at the village still recovering from your poisoned dagger." Kakashi said this last part with a bit of amusement in his voice while Sakura sank her head in shame.

A few moments later Yamato strode over to their table. After hastily placing an order he turned his attention to the others.

"Well we have our rooms for the night. They aren't exactly cheap or glamorous but they aren't really expensive or uninhabitable either. Luckily we don't have to pay till morning, so did anything happen while I was over there?"

Their waitress comes with their food and sets it in front of them. Sai ordered a simple rice dish, Sakura some curry, and Yamato a steak. Kakashi, having not ordered anything, answers.

"No. We were just making small talk. I'll be heading to the room. I'm more exhausted than I am hungry so I think I'll call it a night." With that Kakashi stands up, makes a small, overly exaggerated bow and proceeds to his room.

"Yeah right!" yells Sakura. "You just don't want us to see what's under that mask of yours!" The team laughs a joyous cantor that continues on throughout the meal as they endlessly engage in meaningless banter. The time wiles away until eventually, their stomachs full of food and their hearts filled with laughter, they leave a tip on the counter for the waitress and each retire to bed.

…

Refreshed from hot meals, warm beds, and cold showers, the team gets ready to leave the Inn at the crack of dawn. Before they leave however, they stop by the front desk to pay for their rooms and meals.

Kakashi walks up to the front desk where Muston is wiping off the counter to wile away time before the day starts. He looks up at the group a smile on his face and laughs. "HAR HAR HAR! Leaving so soon, are ya?!"

"I'm afraid so." says Kakashi. "So how much do we owe you total?"

"Not a thing." answers Muston.

"Right, not a th… wait, what?"

"I said you don't owe a thing. It's all on the house."

Surprised, the group shoots curios and confused glances at each other.

"Mr. Muston." starts Yamato "I understand that you might be intimidated because we are leaf village shinobi, but we aren't supposed to gain special treatment simply because of that. So please if that's why your-"

"I ain't intimidated by ya! My father happened to be a chunin from the hidden grass, so I know a few jutsus of my own. I've never been intimidated by shinobi from any village!"

"Really?"

"Yup."

"But then why?"

"Why? Cuz a little ol' Sakura here of course! She and her friends have always stayed here free!"

"I have?" she asks confused.

"O'course! I've known ya since fore' you were taller an' my knee! Though it's been years since I last seen any of ya so I can't say I'm too surprised ya on't remember me."

Yamato turns to Sakura and asks, "Do you remember Sakura?"

Looking down, Sakura puts her hands behind her back as she struggles to remember. She closes her eyes and shakes her head a bit, trying to jog her memory. After a few seconds she says "Well, I have noticed over the past few days that this area seems very familiar. And now that I really stop and think about it, I felt unusually comfortable when we got here, like I was at a second home or something. But I don't think I…"

**C'mon, how could you forget Uncle Muston!**

"That's right! I used to come to an Inn a lot with some friends when I was a little girl! Which means you must be… Uncle Muston? I'm afraid that's all I can remember though. I don't even remember who the friends were that I came here with." she said, a little sullen she couldn't remember anything else but happy that she could at least remember his name.

"Well that's all right. I'd tell you all about the good ol' days but yall gots a mission ya needs to get back to and besides" he bellows another of his merry laughs before continuing "Memories are always sweeter-"

"When actually remembered!" Sakura finishes.

"HAR! HAR! HAR! So you remember that too, do ya? Well, good! Don't go forgettin' it anytime soon, awright?" He leans across the counter and pats Sakura on the head.

"Okay Uncle Muston!" Sakura says, a big baby grin on her face.

"Welp, I reckon I've held you folks up enough. Go on and get back to yer mission! We can talk properly later when ya done."

The group says their goodbyes to Muston as they exit the Inn. "It's a good thing Sakura's a friend of the Inn owner." Says Sai. "Now we should be able to get home without spending any money. Lady Tsunade will be happy." They finally leave and continue on their mission. Several hours have passed and the sun now rests high in the sky.

"Ugh… why does his hideout have to be so far away?!" complained Sakura. The hours of endless jumping from branch to branch is causing fatigue once more and is starting to take its toll. Due to the skill level of their target, their team was forced to take a longer, less navigable path in order to avoid detection. This coupled with Sakura's ever more troubling emotions on the failed Sasuke mission, are driving her to the edge.

"Our opponent is a master of genjutsu." States Sai in his usual emotionless tone. "Genjutsu requires great attention to detail especially of the surrounding environment. If he has set up a hideout, then he will know the area around it perfectly. We won't be able to get near him easily without him catching on, and we don't know just how much of the area he has under constant surveillance. We must take detours if we are to avoid detection."

Throwing her hand out in front of her, she balls it into a fist as she screams "I DON'T CARE! IF HE HATES THE VILLAGE SO MUCH HE SHOULD HAVE MADE HIS HIDEOUT CLOSER TO IT RIGHT?! I'M GOING TO KILL THIS GUY!"

"Well," says Yamato, his face uneasy given Sakura's sudden outburst "that is the plan."

"That reminds me," states Sai as he ignores Sakura's ranting "is it really right to kill this man? The elder herself said that he has done nothing wrong besides leave the village."

"That's true…" Kakashi says, letting out a small sigh as he does so. "But she also said we would be saving him from his own torment. It's possible that he's gone mad and the only way to fix it is to end him and put him out of his own misery. Or maybe he messed up an experiment and he's trapped in some sort of unbreakable genjutsu. Who knows? The only information we have to go on is what the elder told us and the small amount that's on this information card."

Kakashi holds up a small golden card with a black leaf insignia emblazoned on the back.

"Akumu Taka. S-Class ninja. Genin. Master of genjutsu. Wears a black robe with dog ears on the hood, has a wooden cross on his back and a tattoo of the letters "IV" on his right hand. Left the village eight years ago. Master of genjutsu whose skills rival that of former leaf ninja Itachi Uchihas Kekai Genkai the Mangekyo sharingans Tsukuyomi. Reason: Classified. Age: classified. Height: Classified. Weight: Classified. Even his eye color is classified information. They're sending us in practically blind." Kakashi creases his brow. Worry continuing to grow on his face.

"Well they did say he wouldn't kill us…" says Sai in his usual tone. "Perhaps they didn't think it was necessary to give out so many details on an opponent who wouldn't fight to kill."

"Yes, but that only raises more questions." says Kakashi. "After all, he's a wanted man. Why wouldn't he, especially if he wants revenge on the hidden leaf village? Why are we killing a man who's done nothing wrong? And why send people after him now, after all this time. And in the middle of war preparations no less!" He slips the card back into his pocket. "I have a feeling there's a lot more to this than we're being told."

They continue on their way, leaping from branch to branch. Sakura continues to complain, though everyone ignores her. Sai and Yamato exchange a few words occasionally, while Kakashi remains silent and in deep thought.

The forest is quiet at this time of day. It is well into the afternoon now and the sun is beginning to set, blanketing the world in a blazing orange glow. It's the time of day where the birds are no longer chirping, but the bugs have yet to begin their nightly song. The world is quiet with the only sounds being their footsteps clashing against the moist wood they jump on and the damp air that rushes past their faces.

Time continues to pass by and the group moves in utter silence. The sun sinks lower and lower until it vanishes completely, giving way to the night. The bugs have begun their song and the night air has gained a slight chill. The change in temperature has caused dew to collect on the branches of the trees, making them moister than they already were. Some of the braches have become so damp they could easily cause one to slip even with the help of chakra, forcing the group to slow their pace and detour even further.

After a week of traveling, Kakashi sounds the words everyone has been dying to hear.

"Stop, we're here."

The group halts their movements at the mouth of a large cave. In front of the cave lies a massive meadow that wanders back off into the forest. The cave itself is a dull gray ashen color and blue fluorescent mushrooms litter the ground in front of it. Onyx tinted ivy crisscrosses the walls oozing out a strange, black fluid that drips down like blood. The smell is repugnant, like that of a corpse left to the elements in a hot and humid place. It's completely different from the smell of fresh flowers, grass, and other bits of nature that they had gotten used to from running in the forest for the past week. Sakura gags a little.

"His hideout is a place like this?" she asks through choked breaths.

"Yes." Answers Yamato. "It's called Black Blood Cavern and it seems to be well named."

Sakura's face shifts, a look of confusion and deep thought replacing her usual little smile. Kakashi, noticing this, asks Sakura "Sakura is everything alright? It looks like something's troubling you."

"Hmm?" replied Sakura. "Oh uh, yeah. I'm just fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's just…"

"Just what?" asked Sai.

"It's just, for some reason I like this place."

The other members of team Kakashi turned to look at Sakura, puzzled expressions lining their faces. Scratching his head, Yamato looks to Kakashi perplexed. Kakashi gestures with his shoulders to show that he doesn't quite know how to respond. Sighing, Yamato turns his attention back to Sakura.

"What… do you mean Sakura?"

"Well see, this place" she takes a few slight steps forward spreading her arms to show what she's referring to "it makes me feel comfortable, like I've just come home from a really long, really difficult mission. No. Not home. More like, a favorite play place as a kid. You know, the one you spent just as much time at as your home. Am I making any sense?"

Yamato looks at Sakura, an awkward smile on his face. He lets out a kind of forced laugh as he speaks.

"Yes, that makes perfect sense! Ah ha ha ha ha haaa!

"Really?" she asks, hands clasped together near her face, her eyes wide and sparkling. Evidently the thought of someone understanding such a vague explanation has pleased her greatly.

"Well, did you play here as a child?" states Sai.

"Nope!" she responds, an idiotic grin covering her face.

"Then it doesn't make any sense at all."

Quick as lightning, Sakura reaches over and strikes Sai, her blow connecting with his chin resounding with a deafening thunderclap and sending him flying through the air. Eventually landing several moments later, Sai stands with his head spinning but otherwise unharmed as Sakura wipes her hand on her shirt. While Yamato rushes over to check on Sai, Kakashi turns to gaze at the cave entrance once again.

"Well, regardless of Sakura's strange nostalgia-like feelings, this place is still very… gaudy."

"That it is." Spoke a nearby voice. "Now may I ask why you intrude upon my home?"

The team whirled around weapons drawn. Before them stood a man in a long dark robe, his eyes gave off a brilliant golden glow with black slit pupils cut down their middle. His hair is long and darker than the night sky. It spikes out haphazardly, seeming to shoot out in any direction except where it's supposed to go. He's young, roughly the same age and size as Naruto, perhaps slightly taller.

He stares at the team of shinobi before him, a brown paper bag filled with food is held in his left hand. He places the bag down and turns to get a better look at the group. The light breeze blows across the plains causing his robe to flap slightly in the breeze and some of the lower spikes of his hair to tickle his face. He stands tall, with perfect posture his eyes seem emotionless and cold, almost analytical. As though he was staring at computer data rather than human beings. Measuring them, sizing them up, weighing their possible techniques and his chances of victory.

Tightening the grip on his kunai, Kakashi knits his brows and says "Dog eared robe, wooden cross, tattoo on the right hand, you're our target, Akumu Taka." says Kakashi.

Akumu's poker face quickly fades away, replaced by one of wide eyed surprise, "You're target?" asks Akumu. He furrows his brow and examines the ninjas in front of his home more thoroughly. Finally laying eyes on their headbands, his face brightens up. A childish grin is plastered to it, like a little boy who's seeing his friends for the first time in weeks. He lets out a huge, joyous laugh as he says "Ah I see it now, Leaf village shinobi! Been sent to kill me now, have ya?" His laughing done he holds his gaze hard on the shinobi before him, beaming like a child.

Kakashi narrows his eyes. "Yes." He replies, sliding deeper into his battle stance. The others quickly follow suit.

All is silent as Akumu and team Kakashi stare each other down. Seconds turn to hours as the time ticks by in a seemingly endless eternity. The breeze, which had died down for a time, picks back up in the form of strong, short gusts causing the wind to whistle as it whizzes its way through the branches of the trees.

Placing his hands on his head and leaning back a bit Akumu is the first to speak. "Well I understand. I won't put up a fight." Shock spreads across the faces of Kakashi's team, temporarily causing them to drop their guard. They quickly realize their mistake however and tighten the grips on their weapons even more. Akumu continues "But before you take my life, might I make a last request?"

Kakashi takes a moment to consider this. _He could be baiting us into a trap, but I don't really see the point. He's far enough away he could weave signs or even make a break for it. Why would he surrender so easily unless…_

Kakashi places his hands together "Release!" The others quickly follow suit. The Akumu in front of them disappears only to be replaced by one behind them who has a kunai at Sakura's back. Kakashi quickly makes a few hand signs and charges at Akumu.

"Lightning Style: Chidori!" He slams his chidori hard into Akumu's chest… or at least he thought he had, until he saw Akumu burst into smoke with a resounding POP! He looked around again only to find Akumu back in his original spot.

"Whoops, looks like you know I'm good at genjutsu." he says as he shrugs his shoulders. He yawns, putting his right hand over his mouth and stretching. Leaning over he grabs the paper bag full of groceries and vanishes in a flash of black light. Startled, Kakashi's team begins to search for him with extreme vigor, eyes darting from place to place as they watch and listen for any indication of his presence.

"I'm over here." says Akumu. The four shinobi quickly turn to face his voice, weapons drawn and at the ready, only to find Akumu standing in front of the cave entrance, his broad smile just as childish and friendly as ever.

"Would you like to come inside?" he asks. "I just bought this food, and there's an awful lot. Since you're from the Leaf Village and knew I was a genjutsu master, you must have taken all sorts of detours to avoid detection and traps. I bet you've been eating those rations all this time too, huh? Don't get me wrong, the Leaf is a wonderful village, but they really need to make tastier travel food. They should take a lesson from the rain Hidden Mist village, now THEY have some tasty war food! Anyway I'm sure you must be starving for something decent by now and since you're going to kill me anyway there's no point in storing this for the week like I was going to. It'd just go to waste. So come on, let's all go inside. I'll fix ya something decent to eat. Then we can kill each other, kay?" Akumu let out a light giggle before turning on his heels and starting to walk into the cave with a surprising amount of bounce in his step.

"Hold on a sec!" Shouts Sakura. Akumu stops, his leg suspended comically in midair. He turns his head towards her an eyebrow raised. "Why are you doing all of this?"

Akumu looks up as though trying to remember something, before getting a lightbulb type smile and saying "I'll tell you over dinner! So come on!" And with that he disappears into the earthen hole.

Kakashi's team stood dead still, they're eyes locked upon the entrance of the cave. They waited, patiently observing the sickening caverns entrance for even the slightest of movements, believing his words to be a simple ploy to lower their guard. Refusing to believe him, they kept painful track of their surroundings, thinking he would attack at any given moment from any given direction.

Each team member reacts to the situation differently, each more paranoid than the last. As a rush of cold wind shocks Sai causing him to tense up and tighten his grip to the point where he almost breaks his brush. As his body calms down, Kakashi begins tentatively looking from side to side, one hand on his kunai, the other on his headband ready to use the Sharingan at any given moment. Yamato, having been rattled more by Akumu's display of strength than the others, is zipping his eyes this way and that at a dangerous pace. His brow twitches constantly and his hands refuse to stop their pointless shaking. A bead of cold sweat slides down the side of his face from under his head band as he grows more and more paranoid by the second.

Sakura, however, reacts differently. As her teams thoughts race wildly faster and faster, Sakura's mind begins to slow and relax. Moment by moment the mind gripping and body stilling fear fades away, replaced instead with yet another sense of security and comfort. It invades her mind, planting a voiceless whisper of peace and lost love. A haze settles on her, fogging her mind and clouding her eyes. _This must be one of Akumu's genjutsus. _She thought. She knew she should fight this feeling. If she didn't Akumu would win. _I'm not that bad at genjutsu. I can break out of this if I try._

**Are you kidding Sakura? This is Akumu! You couldn't break out of it when you were a kid! What makes you think you can break out of it now?**

_That's right, I never could break his gen- Wait a minute! I've never even met Akumu until today!_

**That's not true. Don't you remember Sakura, all those years ago? Don't tell me you actually forgot everything!**

_Forgot everything? There's nothing to remember! I've…_

**Wow, you really don't remember a thing! Hahaha! But that's okay. Hey I bet if you go see Akumu, he'll be able to tell you!**

_Tell me what? There's nothing to tell!_

**There's the truth.**

_What truth?_

**The truth of your past. Haven't you been feeling strange on this mission? Like you were always filled with nostalgia?**

_Well I-_

_**See? If you seek him out, Akumu can explain those feelings. He can restore you. Restore US.**_

_How am I supposed to do that? I don't know where he is._

**Just lose yourself to the feeling, and your heart will lead the way.**

_The feeling?_

**Mmhm.**

…_.._

_All right._

Sakura gradually allows the feeling to consume her and, without her ever realizing so, loosens the grip on her kunai. Bit by bit, she rises out of her battle stance, until at last she is standing straight up, her arms and weapon lifeless at her side. Her eyes look glassy. They stare off into nothingness, as if in a trance.

The others turn their attention to Sakura concerned. Cautiously, Kakashi strides over to Sakura, hand outstretched. One foot being slowly placed in front of the other, and eyes darting to the left and right to check for Akumu, Kakashi inches his way to his comrade. Still frequently scrutinizing his surroundings as he moves towards her, Kakashi speaks to Sakura.

"Sakura." he says, his voice lowered on account of Akumu's disappearance. "Sakura, it's Kakashi Sensei. What are you doing standing up like that? Are you alright?" Kakashi takes a few more tentative steps towards her, before coming to a stop about five feet away.

Sakura looks up, still in her trance, and walks into the cave. Upon stepping past the caves threshold, a blast of purple light blinds everyone. "Sakura!" they all scream as their eyes recover from the light. After it's gone, they look forward to find she's vanished. Gripping their weapons in anger and worry, they rush forward into the cave, only to be swallowed by the same light as she.

Kakashi and the others stumble after exiting the light, smashing into the ground hard. After recovering from slight recoil, he manages to sit up, head spinning. He opens his eye and looks around. This time a blue light shines into his face. It's not as intense as the purple light that swallowed them, but it's still far brighter than the inside of a cave ought to be. He squints to allow his vision to adjust to the change while picking up the kunai he dropped before and standing. After his sight has finally adjusted to the blue radiance, he gasps at what he sees. "Sai, Yamato, look."

Rubbing his head Yamato sits up and opens his eyes to regain his bearings. Sai grunts as he struggles to get to his feet. Apparently he still hasn't recovered from Sakura's punch from earlier. That combined with this fall seems to have left him rather winded. But he grits his teeth and pushes through it, eventually managing to stand and open his eyes. Like Kakashi, both Sai and Yamato gasp at the sight before them.

Akumu's light had transported them to a massive, circular, underground cavern that could fit three to four tailed beasts if one so desired. Their group situates near the top of the cavern upon a broad ledge that encircles around the entire room. They look down from their great outcropping of rock to see the source of the light. A mass of blue bubbling liquid covers the bottom of the cave like a lake. Its fluorescent light casts a beautiful glow upon the otherwise vapid walls. Taking a closer look they see that the shimmering blue liquid is not lucid, like water, but instead seems denser. Rather than flowing it wriggles and writhes. But does so elegantly, as though it were dancing an incredible, slow-paced ballet. Scattered throughout the rest of the underground cavern are massive pillars that seem to be made of the strange fluid. They leisurely spin up from the mass collected below, some clockwise some counter-clockwise, like a reverse water cyclone. As it hits the ceiling, the strange fluid comes cascading back down in long, individual threads that wind around the sparkling towers like grand watery vines, always descending in the opposite direction of the tower they bind. These strands become more pact as they fall and connect with the ends of the other strings flowing down from the other towers, where they finally become so dense they seem to almost crystalize into solid objects. However if one looks closely enough, you could see that fluid was in fact, still moving. Only it was so compressed that it seemed to be a single piece. These moving crystal-like lanes connected together to form structures like that of bridges, roads, and ramps. They crisscross, going up and down, left and right, forming a massive web of moving crystal roads that all eventually lead to one single point in the center of the cavern. It was a crystal island. Virtually solid at the top, one can see where the strands meet in the center of the isle, winding together back into the sky, forming a tangled knot of swirling energy whose shape strongly resembled that of a tree. At first glance it seemed as if all the liquid gathered and stopped there, but a better inspection shows that you can see the "trees" intricate branches actually collapse in on themselves at the tip, sliding their way down the insides of the tree into the trunk, where it flows down to join with the bottom of the island. Swirling around the fluid becomes looser and looser until it joins with the original source of the liquid below, only to inevitably repeat the process over again.

The shinobi stand wide eyed, amazed by the incredible sight they behold. Mouths aghast, hands swaying worthlessly at their sides, they gaze in wonder at this surreal twist of reality. Stunned into utter silence by something none could explain nor would they wish to, as it was obvious to them that this was one such wonder no mere human would ever be able to grasp. Any who would, would surely spread nothing but ruin. The three shinobi kept their unbroken gaze, and made a silent, gesture less vow to each other never to speak of this place again.

They allowed their eyes to linger a few moments more before releasing a deep sigh and tearing their eyes away; they had to get back to the mission, back to their friend.

They each begin to look around, searching for any sign of Akumu or Sakura, along with anything that might be useful or give them a clue as to what to do next.

Yamato stops and takes another look about him stating, "It looks like there's no normal exit. Meaning we've either been trapped here or Akumu is hiding it somehow."

Kakashi continues walking on his section of the ledge, searching for anything worthwhile. After surveying the area for a moment, he notices that some of the mobile crystal roads extend almost to their ridge. Not enough to simply step onto, but more than enough to jump. The question was: Would it hold?

He strides over to one of the frozen crystal tentacles, contemplating a way to test his theory without actually endangering himself or the team. As he plays with different ideas in his head, Sai shouts to look in a certain direction, the thing he sees answers both his question and how to proceed with the mission.

Following Sais line of vision, he spots Sakura walking down the slope of one of the crystal highways. Her eyes still stare into nihility; her small frame trudges onward, with a sense of rhythm and purpose in her step. It seems she's been walking for quite some time as she has nearly reached the bottom.

"Sakura!" he shrieks, and rushes to one of the crystal roads. Placing his hands together, he gathers chakra in his feet increasing his speed. As he nears the edge of the ledge, he amasses a high quantity of chakra directly below the ankles holding it there as it builds up. Finally his feet make contact with the edge of the rocky protrusion and as he jumps, he releases all of the stockpiled chakra, launching him forward like a rocket. He glances down to his landing point then quickly back up to scan around for the next one. He spots it and instantly begins storing chakra before making contact with his jump point.

Squatting as he lands so the blows force flows up and out of him rather than being concentrated in his legs, a look of surprise flashes across his face. Darting his eyes downwards, he notices that some of the blue liquid is being sucked into his legs. His eyes widen even further as he realizes what the liquid is. _This is… CHAKRA?!_

He realizes this too late however, as his legs are already in mid-jump. As he springs from his position to his next endpoint, he starts to flail about in the air uncontrollably. The chakra his legs absorbed from the 'chakra roads' was far more than he needed. The extra force they provided facilitated the overshoot of his jump, causing him to fly across the cavern at breakneck speeds. Unable to gather his bearings and stabilize himself, he began to crash into the caverns different crystal pillars and highways with terrifying force. He soared through the air, tumbling like a ragdoll, his body resounding with a thunderous crack on every impact.

His comrades watch helplessly as Kakashi's form turns from high level Shinobi, to physics sick play thing. Unable to do anything more, they chase after him, concentrating far more on chakra control than normal as they are now aware of the consequences.

Each mind-numbingly painful collision slowed down his unwanted flight until at last he was able to right himself. Gritting his teeth together as he fought through the pain, he managed to somersault over another crystal highway and after a quick search found a decent landing point. Shifting his weight towards the spot he crashed into the ground and was sent skittering across the gemlike lane. After coming to a stop and catching his breath, he made a desperate attempt to rise. Body racked with incredible pain, he slowly pulled himself up. He managed to get on his hands and knees, but the pain from the collisions plus the fatigue he started out with due to their journey, had left him too winded to stand.

Cringing in pain and unable to move, Kakashi vaguely noticed Yamato and Sai appearing next to him. With Sai's assistance, Yamato hoists Kakashi onto his back. Kakashi manages a meek "Thank you." as his comrades continue to chase Sakura.

They take off down the crystal roads; no longer following Sakura, for it became quite clear where she was headed: The Tree in the center of the island.

Time seems worthless now. The shinobi sprint down the slope, their feet clacking against the shining azure bridge. In a few moments they reach the outer rim of the island. Having gotten so much closer, the shinobi stand once again, jaws dropped in wonder and awe.

From above the island seemed rugged and bumpy like a mass of oddly shaped boulders had fallen and been pressed together, but standing eye level with the island they could see that it was not boulders, but the leaves of massive crystalized trees.

They walked, looking over the whole island and taking in the magnificent sight. They could see the outer rim was strongly reminiscent of a beach. The chakra there had become loose enough to slightly sink their feet, or pick up and slip through their fingers like sand. Further up this chakra beach stood crystal palm trees. Bringing his gaze towards them, Sai notices that they strongly resemble the trees from the island of destiny*. Continuing their way deeper into the island, the trees grow closer and closer together. They change form, from tropical palm trees, to evergreens, eventually ending with trees the size of the mighty redwoods. But these trees pale in comparison to the one at their center. That crystalized behemoth easily rises tall enough to make most mountains seem like rolling foothills.

The deeper they went, the darker it became. Of course there was the soft light of chakra emanating off of all of their surroundings, but the denser the tree, the softer the glow until it finally becomes so faint it's rendered almost worthless for helping with sight.

Other things were changing too as they trekked through the crystal jungle. Occasionally chakra would start to froth on the ground or a branch. Bubbling up to form something new. Sometimes they would create a small rock or flower. Other times though they'd turn into bugs, birds, or animals. These particular creations would separate from the rest of the island entirely, moving about on their own as a sentient being. Every time they shared the traits of the creatures they resembled. A spider formed from a tree and afterwards climbed to a branch and spun a web. A wolf and deer both grew at the same time, looked at each other, and the deer took off with the wolf chasing after its prey. They truly received a shock when one of the masses of bubbles rose out of the ground retaining the shape of a human woman who strongly resembled the one they met at the Inn.

They encountered sight after unimaginable sight as they journeyed through the forest. They knew they were on a mission, but there are some things in this world that people must slow down and take in, less they regret it forever. This place was one of those things

After walking for a few more moments Kakashi lifts his arm and points. Speaking in a rough and heavily labored voice, he says "S… sakura."

Sure enough there she is. Still in a trance. The three shinobi rush to her side and carefully gather their chakra together before pouring it into her. With a start Sakura snaps out of her trance, genjutsu broken. Panicked and confused, she bombards her teammates with wave after wave of questions. After calming her down and explaining what's going on they proceed once more to their destination.

Finally after what seems like hours of travelling, a break emerges in the crystal jungle pouring bright white light in through the trees. As the shinobi pass through the hole in the forest, they step into a beautiful crystal glade once again taking their breath away and stopping them dead in their tracks. Ponds sit scattered across the field, bubbling rich thick chakra to the surface. Crystal flowers varying in all sorts of incredible shapes and textures litter the clearing. It even seems that some of the chakra has gathered and become completely solid forming large, flat rocks and boulders.

Towering high above the clearing is the kingpin of the trees. The centerpiece of the mysterious chakra filled cavern. It towers above the rest of the island. It's trunk as big around as the leaf village, its branches thick enough to build small neighborhoods on top of. Looking into its crystal center you can see all of the chakra as it surges up to the branches, only to suck itself back in, causing a torrential downpour of chakra as its slips out the bottom of the island and merges with the surrounding ocean of energy.

Fully absorbed in their surroundings, Kakashi and his team fail to notice Akumu standing near a particularly large rock crystal surrounded by five other smaller boulders beckoning for them to come over. Their attention remains thus until Akumu finally speaks.

"You certainly took your sweet time getting here! C'mon we can eat right here under the Macalania* tree!" Akumu says with a smile. He turns around, raises his hands into the air, and claps saying "Alright, time to eat!"

With that, five things much like that of the strange chakra creatures the team had seen earlier appear, each carrying a large tray of freshly well cooked food. They quickly scurry over to the 'table' and hurriedly set down the food. They fizzle out of existence only to reappear with forks, spoons, knives, cups, chopsticks, and all the other necessary utensils needed for a meal. Their job complete, they rush to Akumu and come to a standstill, as though awaiting further instructions.

"Thanks guys!" he says. "That'll be all for now. I'll call if I need you okay?"

The chakra creatures make small sounds and gestures that seem like they're saying "Yes, master." Before fading out of existence again. Akumu walks to the table and sits down. Looking at the ragtag group in front of him his bright smile changes to a look of concern and surprise.

"What happened to you guys? You look terrible. Well no matter. As I'm sure you've noticed, almost everything here is made of chakra, if you just open your body up to the surrounding chakra, you'll heal at incredible speeds. It's the same thing as if you had a tailed beast sealed inside."

Kakashi's team doesn't make a single move. They simply stand there watching.

Akumu sighs, apparently growing agitated by their endless distrust of him. "Here, watch." he says. Reaching forward he grabs a knife off the table with his right hand. Holding the knife up he sets the blade on the palm of his left hand and with a quick downward movement, cuts himself. A small trail of crimson blood trickles from his now injured palm. Placing his hands together in the usual manner he opens his chakra flow. Rising around him, thin threads of chakra fly up from the landscape gathering, inside his body. A bright blue aura envelops his hand. The cut sizzles and pops as the skin gradually comes together before closing the wound completely. He grabs a paper towel off the table and wipes the blood off his hand. "See," he says. "Nothing to it."

Kakashi pauses for a moment before placing his hands together. Sure enough, chakra flows up from the ground healing his wounds in a matter of moments. Dropping off of Yamato while Sai opens his own chakra flow, he strides to the table.

"Before my team and I do anything else, I want to ask you something." Akumu leans against the table, resting his face on his fists, covering his mouth. He raises an eyebrow curiously and nods his head, urging him to proceed.

"Why did you place a genjutsu on Sakura? You're obviously a highly skilled shinobi? You know we would have investigated the cave and arrived here after you didn't reveal yourself outside for an extended period of time and you're obviously very patient. So why place her under a genjutsu?"

Akumu looks down, closes his eyes, and lets out a small sigh. Opening his eyes and looking back up, Kakashi tenses. The normally childish grin has been once again replaced by the uncaring, emotionless analyzing stare he had when they first saw him. He leans back, crossing his arms, and speaks in a much lower, much more collected voice that sounds like a cross between Sasuke's and Itachi's. "I'm afraid you're mistaken. I did not place a genjutsu on Sakura. If I had, do you honestly think you could have broken it so easily?"

"If you didn't place a genjutsu on her then who did?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Akumu says, closing his eyes again. As he opens them, a kind of semi-evil grin crosses his face as he throws his arms in the air saying "She did, of course."

Surprise snakes its way across the faces of Kakashi's team. Clearly that was an answer no one was expecting.

Sakura stomps forward, angered by such a ridiculous accusation. "I performed the jutsu on myself? Are you crazy?"

"No. In fact, the only ones from the leaf village who aren't are your precious village elder, Utatane, and me."

Shaking her head and waving her arms in exasperation she points a finger at Akumu. "You have completely freaking lost it. Your personality changes at the drop of a hat. You force your enemies to have dinner by controlling them with genjutsu. And then you claim that they're the ones who performed it! Now I can see why they want you dead! You're completely insane!

Akumu's face twitches with what looks like hurt at Sakura's claim, but quickly returns back to its original uncaring state, seemingly undaunted. Sakura notices the twitch and for some reason her heart sinks. _Why does this keep happening?! I don't even know him and I'm not under the effects of the genjutsu anymore!_

"Sakura." Akumu calls. "Let me ask you this: When you fell under the genjutsu whose voice did you hear? It's a commonly known fact that that kind of genjutsu takes time, meaning the user of the jutsu needs to implant ideas into their opponents head in order to cause a mental struggle and take their attention away from resisting the jutsu. As such, had I been the one to cast the jutsu, it would have been my voice you heard. So I'll ask again, whose voice did you hear?"

Akumu sat, his hands tucked in his cloak pockets. Sakura stood stunned. He was right, that kind of jutsu _does_ use voices to confuse their target. And the voice she heard was…

"Well Sakura?" he asked.

She hesitated before looking down and muttering something under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Mine…"

"I can't hear you."

It was mine…"

"One more time." Akumu held his hand to his ear mockingly.

"I SAID IT WAS MINE, DAMNIT!" she screamed, eyes on the edge of tears, unable to look up out of a mix of confusion, fear, and shame. "It was mine, I mean it wasn't mine, but it was. It… it sounded like mine, b-but it sounded different. Like some other person was using my voice to mess with me! But it doesn't make any sense! Why would I cast a genjutsu on myself!"

**Well I was hungry, and no one cooks steak quite as good as Akumu. And you weren't about to start following him anytime soon so… I took the initiative!**

Sakura stops her ranting, eyes wide, body paralyzed. Akumu's face becomes inquisitive until he finally registers what's happening. "Sakura?!" he screams, his body frantic as he leans forward in his seat, right arm resting on the table to push himself up if need be. "Sakura is that you?!" Jumping out of his seat, he takes a step towards her.

In an instant, Kakashi and his team rush in front of Sakura weapons at the ready. "Not another step Akumu." Kakashi says.

Akumu puts his head down eyes closed. "Sakura," he says as he pulls the cross off his back. "Sakura… fight." His body shivers as he grinds his teeth together, tensing as he strengthens the grip on the cross. "Fight, please. I beg of you…" His head jolts up, as he swings his cross down taking a battles stance, tears streaming down a face tinged with both sorrow and hope. "FIGHT! I'll take care of the shinobi! You concentrate on you!"

He twirls his cross again this time cocking his arm back and throwing it like a spear, sending it flying towards Kakashi! Without bothering to observe his attacks effectiveness, he rushes at Yamato. Kakashi deflects the attack with his kunai, sending the cross spinning through the air. Sai performs a few backflips and jumps, eventually perching himself on one of the branches in the trees. There, he quickly paints some lions, bringing them to life and sending them after Akumu, as Akumu grabs his falling cross.

"Don't give in!" Akumu screams as Yamato uses his wood style and attempts to form a cage around him. Akumu twirls his cross, smashing the wooden cage before it traps him. "This… this is our only chance please: YOU MUST WIN!" Realizing he can't trap him when he has the staff, Yamato throws a kunai with an explosive note attached. Akumu manages to dodge the blast but the shockwave jolts his cross out of his hand. Taking this opportunity to attack, Yamato makes yet another wood prison. Just as the cage is about to trap Akumu permanently, he finds a foothold and manages to jump out, weaving handsigns. "Kage no Bunshin!" Screamed Akumu. Five shadow clones appeared around him, protecting him from Sais lions. Landing on one of the many boulders found throughout the crystal glade, he crouched, only to leap into the air again catching his staff and bringing it down hard on Yamato. Then, with incredible speed effortlessly outmatching the Raikage's, he slashes at Yamato with a flurry of blows, his cross becoming nothing more than black stripes in the soft glow of the island. Sai sends one of his painted birds to attack him, but Akumu flipped over the bird landing a sharp blow with a deafening _crack_ on Yamato's head, rendering him unconscious.

Akumu rises from the strike, and turns to the two remaining shinobi. "This really is too bad. If you were just regular leaf shinobi I'd have killed you a long time ago. Unfortunately… it looks like granny Utatane was wise enough to send the right person here, which more or less makes you unkillable. Looks like I'll just have to knock you all out instead."

"Though I have to say, at the same time, I'm kinda grateful. This," He lets out a breath that's half giggle half sigh "This might just be my chance. My chance to finally eat my fill of the past. To consume all of the love, desires, and dreams I was forced to leave behind. In reality though," His face becomes sullen as he speaks "I'll probably only end up back in the darkness but," He shakes his head, ridding himself of the negative thoughts "But at least, at least I got to see the light, ONE LAST TIME!" Screaming a determined battle cry he dashes at Kakashi.

"I'm putting an end to this madman right now." says Sai. He pulls out a particularly large piece of parchment and a very large inkpot, and begins to paint. "I never imagined I'd have to use this here but…" Sai finishes painting and weaves a few signs. "Ninja Art: Beast Scroll Tsunami!" Sais parchment quakes violently before hundreds of his paint beasts surge forth like a storm. They gather together, different shapes and sizes, packed so close together they appear to be one giant tidal wave, rather than hundreds of painted monsters. As ordered by their master they rush Akumu, fangs, claws, talons, and all other manner of weapons outstretched. With the same speed as before, Akumu twirls his cross, swinging it like an elegant dancer, and brings down the beasts one by one. But with so many rushing him, he couldn't possibly crush them all, and they soon overwhelm him.

A split second before the beasts completely cover him, he puts his cross away and begins to weave a long chain of hand signs. "Shadow Style: Hell Sphere!" he screams. A ball of black light closely resembling the flames of the Amaterasu surrounds and engulfs Akumu. It then expands incinerating everything it touches and taking all of the painted beasts with it. In time light fades away leaving only a charred circle. After getting more ink and readying his brush, Sai begins painting more beasts, only to realize Akumu is nowhere to be found. Before he has time to react, Akumu appears behind Sai. Sai reaches for the blade strapped to his back, but his hand is unable to so much as let go of the brush and parchment before Akumu takes him out with a single chop. He turns to face Kakashi. Lifting his cross and pointing it in his direction he says, "And then there was one."

Kakashi wastes no time reaching for his headband, hoping that his sharingan can even the odds a little. No sooner has his hand touched the headband that Akumu managed to get behind him. "Shadow Style: Shadow Prison!" Large black needles whizz through the air embedding themselves inside Kakashi. The black rods begin to shift and morph creating chains that wrap around his build, immobilizing him. Akumu grabs him by the neck of his coat and lifts him into the air, as he readies his cross for the checkmate.

"We underestimated you…" says Kakashi. Akumu looks him in the eye and says "That's not exactly true. Yes, you did underestimate me, but you also didn't know everything about me either. It's true that I am a master of Genjutsu, but my real abilities, my true strength, lies in my speed. Utatane never knew that. It's good she didn't too. If that old coot knew everything about me, I'd be dead for sure."

"Just… just what happened all those years ago?" asked Kakashi. Akumu's expression softens a bit as he looks down.

"I'd tell you but…" He looks back up sticking out his tongue. Kakashi's eyes widen as Akumu reveals a curse mark similar to the one Sai had before Sasuke killed Danzo. Sliding his tongue back into his mouth he continues, "See? This is why I can't say anything. This is why I left the village. They tore everything away from me. And since they couldn't do the same to me as they did to everything I had, they simply made it so that I could never speak of it again. Utatane gave me this mark personally. She didn't send you here to kill me. She sent you here to take care of an end she left loose years ago. She's just using you to ease the guilt of her own pathetic little heart. If you really wanna know what happened, then go kill Utatane. Free me from my curse and I'll tell you everything you want to know. Until then though, I'll just have to leave you hangin here. Sorry bout this, Copy Ninja." And just like all the others, Akumu brings him down with one smooth, clean strike. He tosses Kakashi's unconscious frame to the ground, let's out a long, shaky breath, and at last turns his attention towards Sakura.

Looking over he sees her sprawled across the ground, passed out. He rushes to her side, cradling her head in his arms.

"Sakura…" he whispers, his voice barely audible. "Sakura, can you hear me? Are you alright? Sakura?"

"Unnngh…" She moans, rocking her head back and forth as she opens her eyes. "A-Akumu?"

Relief spreads across his face as Akumu lets out a bated breath. But that relief quickly turns to apprehension as he looks back down and asks "Which Sakura are you?"

"I-" She stops as if to ponder how best to answer. With a sigh she turns her head away from Akumu, closing her eyes. She opens them again still refusing to look at him and replies, "I'm the fake."

Akumu's face drops at this news preparing to dive into terrible despair, but suddenly it changes to one of severe confusion. "Wait… how do you?"

"I don't really remember anything, but I remember enough to know I'm not who I think I am. Akumu, you can restore... what's missing, right? You can help me remember what I lost can't you, Akumu?"

Sakura looks at him, her eyes filled with confusion and fear. Her hands tremble a bit as she struggles to come to grips with what she's doing. What she's asking. Akumu's face breaks out in a large, but soft, grin. As the last of his tears fall away, he nods his head and says "Yeah."

"But… if you do that…" she whispers crestfallen. "I'll… I'll disappear, won't I?"

Akumu looks away awkwardly as he tries to find an answer that won't scare her. "Well, no. Not exactly. You'll, be whole. This… will just merge. You, you will just be all of you, instead of a shadow. Don't be scared, everything will be fine."*

She nods her head. Still afraid, but understanding.

Several seconds pass by during which the two do nothing more than stare at each other. The forest has stopped its crystal ballad, and only the sound of churning chakra can be heard as it dances its eternal dreamlike performance. The light breeze makes the chilly, damp cavern air even colder. Sakura's body shivers automatically from the feeling. This seems to snap Akumu back into reality.

"Are you cold?" he asks.

"Does it matter?" Sakura responds.

"It does to me." he says. She takes yet another look into Akumu's eyes, trying to find even a trace of what she saw before. Try as she might, though, she could not locate even the tiniest remnants of the emotionless and analytical stare she first witnessed upon meeting him. Instead there was a face filled with nothing more than genuine concern for her wellbeing.

"I-I guess…" She finally manages to say. Akumu takes his cloak and places it over Sakura, Revealing the blood red t-shirt, silver necklace, and bandage wrapped arms he kept hidden underneath. The warmth spreads through her like wildfire, causing her to realize that she was apparently much colder than she originally thought. His coat had a peculiar smell: Cigarettes… and cherry cough drops. It gave her yet another feeling of nostalgia, but she couldn't understand why. As time continued to tick away, she soon realized she was no longer afraid. She had become completely at ease in his presence, without ever realizing why.

"Is that any better?"

"Y-yes… it's much better actually." She says. _Strange, _she thought. _I feel so, comfortable all of a sudden. It's so… nostalgic, like I've done all this before, and many times too! If I become whole, will I feel this way all the time? I think… I think I'd like that. _

"Gluttony." says Akumu.

"What?"

"The answer to your question earlier 'Why am I doing all of this?' it's gluttony. I want to immerse myself in the past. Regain what I lost and constantly feed off of the feeling it gives me. I want to stay in a state of permanent nostalgia, and lose myself in my memories. Memories I wish to make real again. That is why I do what I do. And now in order to restore you, as well as to help me in my endeavor, I shall gorge myself in one of my most precious memories. Goodbye, Sakura Haruno. We'll meet again soon."

Akumu makes a few short hand signs then leans in so close to Sakura their noses almost touch.

"Secret Art: Prince Charming jutsu." He leans in and gives Sakura a kiss.

_W-what the hell?! Wha-what's going on? It's getting darker. Am I… falling asleep? Damnit… this is bad! C-can't hold on… passing ou-_

Sakura passed out in Akumu's arms. "Funny, the last time I ever saw you was a lot like this. Now here we are again, tasting the sweets of the past. Hmph… it was nice seeing you again. Even if only for a while. Don't worry, you'll be home soon too, just give the jutsu a little time to work its magic. Hm… we never got to eat did we? I'll give you some for your group to take home, how's that sound? See you soon, Sakura."

Author's notes

*1. Sorry! XD Had to say it!

*2. A reference to Destiny Islands from The Kingdom Hearts1

*3. A reference to Macalania woods in FFX

*4. A reference to the nobodies in the Kingdom Hearts series


	3. Chapter 3: Lust

**Chapter 3: Lust**

"What's her condition, Tsunade."

"Well, she seems fine other than the fact that she won't wake up. There also seems to be quite a bit of brain activity for someone in a coma, but her body is still recuperating from the battle so it's not completely unexpected."

Sakura lies on a hospital bed asleep, multiple machines making various sounds and images attached to her. Kakashi and Tsunade stand to the left of her bed while Naruto (who has made a full recovery), Sai, and Yamato stand to her right. A week has passed since the "battle" (if one can even call it that) with Akumu. The team awoke the following morning to find themselves thoroughly defeated. They attempted to wake Sakura but nothing seemed to work. Finding nothing wrong other than her sleeping, the team rushed back to the hidden leaf and immediately requested the aid of Tsunade. But Tsunade was as clueless as them. Her body was not severely wounded in any way. There was no damage to the head, neck, or spine. They called in Ibiki to see if he could figure anything out from Sakuras memories that could help them, but all he discovered was an extremely powerful barrier around her mind that completely cut off all access to her memories.

Realizing Akumu's handiwork, Tsunade requested the help of Ututane who came shortly within moments. After a brief look at Sakura she closed her eyes and sighed. She turned and stated that this was the beginning of Akumu's revenge and that Sakura would wake up in due time and return to her normal self. Though bombarded with questions, the elder refused to elaborate any further and simply went on her way. Several days have passed since then and Sakura has yet to wake from her slumber. Needless to say, it has her comrades worried.

"C'mon Sakura-Chan!" yelled Naruto, "Wake up already!"

"I don't think yelling is going to help, Naruto." said Sai.

Lady Tsunade walked over to Naruto's side and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I know you're concerned for Sakura's wellbeing Naruto, but there's nothing we can do but wait right now. She'll wake up eventually just give it a little time." Tsunade said these words bearing a fragile smile on her face. In reality no one could be sure that Sakura would _really_ wake up. After all, just because an elder _says_ something will happen doesn't mean it _will _happen. For all they knew Sakura could be bedridden for the rest of her life. But for now everything had been done that could be done so all they could do was go about their daily lives.

**...**

**Naruto looked about him. Everything was pitch black. Darkness surrounded him from every direction, swarming him, suffocating him. He could feel something creeping in it, something bloodthirsty, something that was raring to attack. Out of nowhere that "something" pounced and began ripping away at Naruto's body.**

"**K-kage no Bushin!" Naruto screamed, but nothing happened. "HEY! I SAID KAGE NO BUSHIN!" again nothing.**_** Crap I can't use chakra?! And I can barely move in this darkness!**_ **Naruto continued to struggle using every ounce of his power to break free from the entangling darkness, but to no avail.**

"**Help…" Naruto croaked "Help me!" Naruto began flailing his arms in the darkness trying to tear it off. "Somebody, anybody, HELP!"**

"**Naruto?" said a voice in the darkness. "Naruto Uzumaki is that you?"**

"**Yes! Yes it's me! Who are you? Can you help me?"**

** "Nii-chan, it IS you!" A few seconds of silence and Naruto looks up to see a little girl no older than 10 standing before him. She wore a white summer dress that went down just past her knees and a white feathered hat several sizes too big adorned her head. Her straight fiery orange hair hung well to her waist and her small brown sandals seemed incredibly dark compared to her pale skin.**

"**I can help you."**

"**Thanks so mu-"**

"**On one condition:" **_**Damnit!**_** Thought Naruto. The girl continued.**_** "**_**First you must tell me my name Nii-chan. Do that, and I will free you from this darkness."**

_**How do I do that?! I've never met this girl before! And where the hell is this "Nii-chan coming from?! Ah well, all I can do is guess! **_** "Is it… Orihime?"**

"**Honestly, do I look like a Full Bring to you?"**

"**What about Nami?"**

"**I'm not a pirate..."**

"**Wakka?"**

"**I don't play blitzball… and that's not even a girl!"**

"**Rito?"**

"**You're just naming people with orange hair! At least make sure they're the right gender!"**

"**Yukari-Chan?"**

"**Now you've got the gender but not the hair color!"**

"**Goku?"**

" **You're not even trying anymore Nii-chan! Fine then if you can't remember my name then I won't help you. Goodbye Nii-chan!" And with that the small girl vanished without a trace.**

"**H-hold on! I remember now! It's… it's… OH COME ON CUT ME SOME SLACK HERE I JUST MET YOU! How can you expect me to know your name damnit! C'mon please… help… me…"**

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Naruto opened his eyes to the small tent he had been staying in since the beginning of the reconstruction of the village. Gazing around in a sleepy haze, he briefly wondered where the darkness, and more importantly the young girl, had disappeared to. _A… dream? A little too real if you ask me. _ Seeing no point in worrying about it, he shut off his alarm clock, grabbed his things and began his daily morning routine.

…

Showered and more-or-less groomed, Naruto dashed off into the village. Legs moving, forward and back, feet clashing against roof tiles, he breathed in the morning air glad to finally be up and running about. He was out of the hospital but was still unable to do any line of work and during his stay he was kept on a very strict, not to mention tasteless, diet so that the chemicals in the food wouldn't affect any of the tests his caretakers had to run. Now that he was free from that medical prison he was starving for some real food, and he only had one place on his mind.

"Ah! Ichiraku Ramen!" he shouted in glee as he came to a stop in front of a small noodle stand. The stand was crudely pieced together, obviously for temporary use. Six or seven seats had been placed in front of a counter covered in napkins, small menus and various condiments for the shops patrons to use. Behind the counter were two young men whom Naruto hadn't seen before. Both seemed to be slightly younger than Naruto himself. They looked alike, most definitely brothers, but not identical. They were two different heights and both with black hair, the taller one with his spiking haphazardly all over the place much like Naruto's, the other short and straight. They wore aprons bearing Ichiraku's symbol and seemed to be quite clumsy and inexperienced with their job. While fumbling through the numerous crates and drawers behind the counter, the shorter of the two brothers accidentally knocked over a stack of plates hitting the ground and shattering into a mass of white and red porcelain pieces. In a flash their faces quickly changed from ones of diligent, careful, hard workers to the terrified masks of men staring death in the eyes.

A moment later a large man easily in his forties, came through a blue curtain in the back of the stall. Looking around he spotted the brothers and then the mess they had created. In a look of anger he walked over to the brothers and began to reprimand them, shouting different things along the lines of "Those are coming out of your pay" and "Anymore of this and you're fired".

Feeling sorry for the boys and wanting to spare them from any further embarrassment, Naruto took a few steps forward clearing his throat and waving his hand shouting "Hey Teuchi!"

At the call of his name the old man turned to see who could bother him while he was lecturing his new employees. Upon seeing Naruto, his face flashed from an angered old storeowners to the smile of a kind father. Turning his attentions back to the brothers long enough to bark a few orders and demand they get back to work, he strode towards Naruto with a grin so warm and inviting you would never have believed it had been as stern a sailors just a few moments ago. Teuchi gave a large slap to Naruto's back causing Naruto to flinch and stumble a bit. He gave a hearty chuckle reminiscent of Mustons, saying "Well if it isn't Naruto! How has my favorite customer been? I haven't seen you in a while. Have you finally recovered from that last mission you went on?" Teuchi placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder and starred him in the eye. His face giving off that it was mostly a jest but still with a twinge of concern.

"Yeah! I've never felt better!" Naruto replied. "They just let me out yesterday. So I decided to come here to see if you guys had opened yet." Before he continued a large crashing sound echoed from the shop. Turning their heads, Naruto and Teuchi watched as the two brothers continued to drop plates, bowls, utensils, and various other things on to the ground. At first the brothers tried to hide their failure before their eyes met with Naruto's and Teuchi's. Knowing they were caught they kicked into high gear, scurrying and scuffling about, attempting to gather as many of the lost materials as was salvageable.

"Those two boys… they'll never learn." Teuchi sighed, shaking his head side to side in disappointment. "Give me a moment Naruto, I have to go help those boys before they ruin anymore of my products." Teuchi began to turn toward the ramen shop as a high pitched voice briefly rang through the air.

"Don't worry Daddy! I'll take care of them!"

The two turned towards the source of the voice.

Ahead of them a single light figure emerged from the curtain separating the store room in the back of Teuchi's shop. There stood a young woman dressed in the same white and blue combination apron as Teuchi and the rest of his employees. She was short; five foot two at the most, and was carrying a wooden box with a large red jalapeno pepper sticker on the front. Carefully balancing the heavy box between her hip and he r right arm, she began moving towards Naruto before seeming to think better of it and turning around to set down the box. She then proceeded to give the two brothers a harsh scolding much like the one Teuchi had given earlier, then continued on her way to where Naruto stood.

As she grew closer Naruto could inspect more detail into her features. Her skin was smooth and pale, perfectly reflecting the morning suns light as though her skin was made of its very rays. She swayed when she walked, her hips jutting widely to the left and right, her hair waving to and fro as she strolled casually to the two young men. She was beautiful, but not a glamorized beauty. No makeup touched her pristine face. No scars or blemishes marked her otherwise sculpted frame. Her beauty was completely natural.

Though she was young she carried herself as someone much older. From a distance you would children, but all the children in the village. Her smile, slight yet sweet, gave a feeling of comfort and warmth. It reminded Naruto of the dreams he had as a child of being read bedtime stories or playing on the swing set with the mother he never had.

She stopped just a few paces from them, brushed off her apron, looked at Naruto and said, "Oh hello Naruto! I wasn't expecting to see you here today."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and gave her his trademark goofy grin. Most people in the village he had passed this morning had that same reaction on their face. Most people knew about the embarrassing moment he had when he accidentally had his hand cut with her poison dagger. Grant it, it was to save Sakura, but being poisoned by your own teammate doesn't bode much more than laughs when you're stuck in the infirmary. Most people would still be on bedrest for the next few months. Luckily for Naruto, it seemed that the Kyubi's chakra worked on poisons in much the same manner as it did physical wounds. As a result he was lucky enough to get out much faster than anyone anticipated.

"It's nice to see you up and about Naruto! It would be a tragedy if our favorite customer weren't okay for the grand re-opening!"

"It's nice to know you care about me so much!"

"Of course we care about you Naruto." Ayame moved in a little closer to Naruto, a little more than is really comfortable. Staring into Naruto's eyes with a playful, yet somehow sullen look, she said "We always have and we always will… boss…"

"Huh? What was that Ayame, I didn't catch that last part." Naruto placed his hand up to his ear half seriously half mockingly. Waving her hand Ayame gave out a little chuckle, a playful little smile bounding across her face. "It was nothing Naruto. Just a little inside joke."

Naruto looked a tad skeptical as he raised his palm to his chin, eyebrows knit in evident confusion. But seeing as how it couldn't be much more than some small inside joke, Naruto decided to let it slide.

Techui, who had been paying more attention to the two brothers inside his shop than the actual conversation, had a look of something having just been dredged up from the back of his mind. Something important. Turning to Naruto he said "Naruto, I'm really glad to see you up and about, and I'm grateful that you came to my shop and everything, but don't you have something more important you're supposed to be doing right about now?"

Naruto was visually confused. "The only thing I know of is chowing down! Where's the food?"

Ayame and Techui both looked shocked. "Naruto," said Ayame. "Didn't anyone tell you? Sakura woke up not to long ago."

Naruto's mouth hit the ground. No one had told him a single thing. "Well Naruto," said Techui. "I reckon you better get a movin'!" He slapped Naruto hard on the back. Partly because he well, that's what he does. But mostly because he wanted to knock Naruto out of his shock and get him moving.

"Uh uh…" muttered Naruto, nearly stumbling to the ground before remembering how to breathe again. "Right… I gotta get moving… gotta go. Thanks pops! See ya round! I've gotta go see Sakura!" And with that he ran off, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Placing only as much chakra in his legs as he dared to without ruining the buildings or causing himself physical injury.

"Haha, there he goes." said Techui, his broad smile sitting tight on his face.

"Yup. Good Ol' Naruto…" said Ayame, a little misty eyed.

Techui looked up at the sky, his eyes losing themselves in its' light blue abyss. His smile slowly faded, transfigured into a sullen guise. Two blue birds flittered through the sky's landing on a branch not a few feet away. He stared at them for a time, his daughters gaze following his own. He contemplated the birds. They were obviously mother and child. Techui thought this was strange. Normally birds leave their children to fend for themselves. So then, why was this bird forced to take care of this young one even though it was far past it's time to leave the nest? Techui knew. It was the same reason for which he had cared for Ayame all this time. He stood patiently, watching as the younger bird flew away. Though his eyes remained glued to the older bird that sat and watched, his daughter Ayame's eyes followed the young birds. Knowing this was a sign he looked up at the sky and sighed. "Akumu has returned?" The question was more of a statement than it was an actual request for information.

"Yeah."

"Do you know what he'll do?"'

"I have an idea."

"But you're not going to tell you're old man, are you?"

"You're not my old man. You know that. You're just an old ANBU assigned by the third Hokage to watch over me. That's and you know it."

"Aye, but all these years of acting have made it feel rather real at times."

"Ha… I guess it has."

"Will you go back?"

"If Akumu comes for me. Yes."

"I understand. Nothing I can really do about it. I'm not strong enough to stop you now. Especially with him on the loose. Can I ask you something though?"

"Go ahead."

"What will you do? If he succeeds?"

"I made a promise to mother to take care of them all. That's what I'm going to do. They'll do the work, and I the oldest of us all will be here to take care of them."

"I see. Well then, Ayame, can this old man make just one final request?"

She smiled and looked back at him. "Sure!"

His broad grin returning he turned himself towards Ayame. "Can we play pretend? For just a little while longer?"

Her cute little smile came back again. Ayame moved in on Techui and gave him a massive hug. Then, looking up at his face said "Sure Papa. Let's play pretend for a little while longer."

And with that the two looked back at the stand, a loud crash being heard in the background. The two brothers had broken yet even more merchandise and were trying desperately to cover up the evidence of yet another of their immense failures. Both of their faces filling with rage they opened their mouths, ready to scream in unison. Looking at each other and how much alike their actions were caused them both to break out into a short bit of laughter. It was short lived however, as they soon were marching towards the in progress noodle stand, yelling at the new employees and running to a dream. A dream that was soon to end.

…

Sakura was awake.

The thought raced circles through Naruto's mind. Why had no one told him? Then again she had woken up just that morning. It's not surprising that it would have taken awhile to reach him. Still, he would've liked to have known sooner.

He made a turn around a tight corner, leaving bewildered faces in his wake. None of that mattered now. Sakura was awake and that was all that was important. He was angry when they returned from the mission, battered and broken. Kakashi carrying Sakura on his back. He had heard it was S-rank. He fought desperately to fight off the medic ninjas and help them, but his condition left him severely weakened. Every time he lashed out the medic ninjas had him strapped to the bed within minutes.

He had almost escaped once, taking notice that many of the male doctors and nurses had a crush on the head nurse. Using that to his advantage he lured them away into a different section of the hospital using his sexy jutsu, where they were promptly ambushed. Having reduced his opponent's numbers by over half, he made a break for the exit. A grin on his face he rammed through the main entrance, thinking himself successful. Opening his eyes to fresh air and sun however told him a different story. In the courtyard that stood between the main entrance and the only gate leading out of the infirmary, stood Might Guy and Rock Lee on either side of the large arch leading out of the hospital. Needless to say they made short work of the weakened Naruto, promptly beating him and forcing him back to his room in the infirmary. Naruto didn't make many attempts after that. With Might Guy and Rock Lee guarding the exits and the staff being replaced with only female medical ninja (a precaution Naruto didn't quite mind) he had few options left to him.

He burst through the infirmary doors knocking over equipment, staff, and patients alike. His momentum finally came to a stop as he crashed into the secretary's desk. His breathing heavy, he was barely able to ask for the location of Sakura's room. Since she woke up they would have moved her to a new room by now.

"Huff… huff… Sakura… room… which way?" he asked through haggard breaths.

The secretary recovered from her initial state of shock. She was a very beautiful woman if you paid attention to her. She had long fire red hair that came down to the middle of her back. She was thin, with wide hips and a rather large bust. Even though she was so beautiful, she still wasn't very noticeable. She kept her head down, hiding her eyes behind her pink wire framed glasses. She didn't carry a purse and looked to be rather clumsy and disorganized, judging from the papers sprawled all over her desk. She kept herself well covered wearing a light but very long blue coat. A close look could show it was to cover a nurse's outfit that must have been to tight, making it look rather skimpy. No doubt due to her proportions.

"W-what?" she asked, her voice high pitched and cracking.

"WHICH WAY IS SAKURAS ROOM?" Naruto screamed in frustration.

The secretary woman gave out a little squeal of fear, her arms instinctively grabbing at her coat to pull it over her as she scanned the room for any watchful eyes Naruto's yelling may have gotten.

"Down the hall to the left… there's a blue star above the room you can't miss it. But sir she hasn't be-"

Naruto didn't stick around to hear the rest. He had already taken off down the hall. He rounded the corner and Spartan kicked the door. "SAKURA!" he screamed. Naruto's lungs felt ready to explode from strain. He hadn't moved this much in a while and he was supposed to be taking it easy. Sweat had even started to build under his brow a little. He peered into the room, mouth hung open with one arm gripping the doorway while the other waved around uselessly past his bent and shaking knees.

Looking forward he saw her. Sakura was standing in front of the window, still in her hospital gown. Her left hand was resting on her right shoulder, holding it as though she was missing something that was supposed to be there. Her normally pristine short pick hair had become slightly tangled and unruly having been passed out for so long. It was amazing how it was only a little rustled giving how long it had been.

She didn't seem to give any notice at first, continuing instead only to stare out the window. A few seconds passed before she spoke. "Is that you, Boss?" She said. Her voice was different to Naruto. She sounded almost… sultry, as though she were a corner girl. "No… you're not the Boss. The Boss is a good man. Strong too… you must be Naruto then. His fake copy. His remnant remains. Yes, that's it."

"Sakura? Are you okay?" Naruto asked concerned for his strange acting comrade.

"Why yes, fake Naruto. I'm more than okay. In fact I feel great. I feel… complete. I'm free, fake Naruto. Finally free. My true form has been released. And now…" She turned to Naruto, her hips swinging a heavy sway from side to side as she moved. She brushed her hair with her hand until the rats nest had turned back into its' manageable blanket. Yet somehow it still felt different to Naruto. It seemed to be a bit looser, more wild.

"Sakura, what are you talking about? I'm not a fake. I'm the same Naruto as always. Wait, you don't think I'm using a transformation jutsu do you? It's me honest!"

"You may be Naruto's body, but you don't possess the Boss's mind or heart."

"The 'Boss'? Who's that?"

"The Boss is you. The REAL you. Unbound from your memory prison."

"Sakura, you're not making any sense…"

"It doesn't matter. I'm taking my leave of this place anyways." Sakura snapped her fingers and her hospital gown erupted into flames. When the flames died down the gown had been replaced by her usual dark pink dress she always wore. Naruto was shocked. He hadn't seen fire style used in that way before. Then again, he had never seen Sakura use fire style.

"Sakura where did you-"

"Quiet. I have no time to waste on a fake Boss. Sakura gathered herself together and began walking forward.

"Hey Sakura, I don't know what's wrong with you but you really shouldn't be up and moving yet. Hey. Are you listening to me?" Naruto reached out his arm to try and grab Sakura. "Hey! I'm talking to you-" Sakura grabbed Naruto's arm and threw him against the wall. Naruto had no time to react before his hand was pinned. Pain seared through the limb as he noticed the warm blood that was now trickling down the sleeve of his orange and black jacket. He looked up to find the source.

It was a kunai.

Sakura had just stabbed him in the hand with a kunai.

"Shocked fake Naruto?" she asked a slutty smile on her face. She leaned in close, her whole body grinding against him. She licked a shuriken like she would a popsicle, and looked up at him with playful eyes. "Didn't see that coming did you?" She started to role the shuriken around her fingers playfully. "Of course, if it was the real you this would never have happened." Like lightning she threw the star, slicing an IV bag in two before catching the shuriken on the return trip. She glanced up at Naruto. Looking him in the eyes she said "I'd love to stick around and chat_, little boy_, but I have a sister to go wake up. Toodles!"

"Wait! Who are you? Where's the real Sakura?!"

She cackled like a madman. Her twisted giggles resounding through the whole infirmary. "You poor thing! I AM the real Sakura! That _FAKE_ you're taking about was just some paltry dream! She's a part of _ME! _Always has been, always will be!"

And with a single deft movement she elbowed Naruto in the gut, knocking not just the wind, but him out.


	4. Chapter 4: Pride

**Chapter 4: Pride**

Several days had passed, the village was in an uproar. First Naruto was found unconscious and pinned to the wall, as the nurses tended to his wounds an explosion was heard in the distance. Shinobi rushed to the scene only to be greeted to an incomprehensible sight. There amidst the charred wreckage, which had at one time been an old sushi shop stood Sakura, bright red flames rolling off her body like blazing sweat.

The Shinobi had no time to recover from their sudden state of shock before she made the first move. "Fire style… Phoenix Flower Jutsu." She cupped her hand to her lips, and with a light blow shot fireball after fireball at stunned shinobi. Though a few were able to jump out of the way, most were hit dead on. As they returned to their feet she turned tail and ran, heading straight for the villages main gate.

Nearing the massive door she came to a screeching halt, her path suddenly blocked by a large stone pillar. She gave out a defeated sigh and turned around, bringing her enemy into view. Of course she knew who it was already, after all there's only one man in Konoha who can make a wall like that. "Hello Captain Yamato, would you mind putting that wall down? I'm trying to leave the village." She said, her face wrapped in a fake 'I'm innocent' smile.

"Sorry Sakura, but I'm under orders to bring you in. You're obviously sick. This has probably got something to do with that rogue ninja's jutsu. Just come in quietly. Please, let us help you." He reached out his hand as more shinobi gathered around next to him. They were everywhere; the roof tops, the stone pillar he had made, even some hiding under the manholes. Among them were of course some very familiar faces. Kiba. Shikimaru. Ino. Rock Lee and Might Guy. Even… _her_. Sakura's heart sank. There she was, her beautiful sister. So close… yet so very far away.

She turned her eyes away from _her_, the sight was just too much to bear. "Help me? Ha, that's the same thing you told me last time and then… then I…" Tears streamed down her face as her flames got stronger and started a wickedly wild dance. "Then I lost EVEYTHING! My whole world was taken! My family! My friends! My…" She choked, the words caught in her throat. "My mother. Why? Why would I ever trust you again?! Why shouldn't I just burn this whole village to the ground?!"

"Because _he _would never stand for it, of course." Came the voice of a wise old woman. The heads of the crowd turned for a moment, each shinobi looking onward to see the voice's origin. It was, of course, the village elder Ututane.

"Lady Ututane, please return to your home." said Yamato. "It's not safe here."

"Oh pishposh!" she said giving Yamato a good whack to the knee. "Old Sakura here won't hurt me, will she? Ey Sakura? Would you hurt poor old Ututane?" She exclaimed, a silly old grin on her face.

Sakura's flames grew ten times for a brief instant as she glared at the old village elder. Her body calmed and her face held taut she said "I will old woman mark my words. The minute I get permission I will cut you down without any hesitation!"

"There see everybody? Nothing to worry about." said Ututane completely ignorant of her audiences' bewilderment. Turning she looked at the flame riddled Sakura, a rare smile crossing her otherwise purse lips. "It seems he did it, you have returned Sakura Haruno."

"That depends on your definition of return old hag."

"Hm, yes I suppose it does! Now let me ask, what is it you want?"

"You know what I want."

"Your freedom I take it? Oh and… her?"

"Of course my freedom and especially… her."

"Right, fine. I'll give you those things. Both of them."

Sakura's face changed to one of genuine shock and surprise. Had she heard right? She would get both? No strings attached? She'd be given her freedom and even get… _her_? No fight, no resistance, just… submission to her demands. It was simple, easy. Too easy… she threw her hand out, grabbing at the air and then pulling. A Shinobi appeared and she casually tossed him to the ground. He stood, weaving hand signs and drawing a kunai covered in lightning. Sakura simply stepped to the side and brought down her hand. A single blow to the back of his neck, and he was out for good.

"Honestly," she sighed, "Is this the BEST this village has to offer? This is Sad Ututane. The village hidden in the leaves is supposed to be the strongest of all the Ninja Villages. What happened to that strength huh? And why have you replaced it with garbage like him?"

"Times of peace can cause people to become complacent. I am most certainly no exception."

"Complacency eh? And I suppose you expect me to be an easier opponent due to this as well? Sorry to inform you, Elder Ututane," she spoke the title with venom, spitting on the ground after words as though to wash her mouth of the taste. "I've been locked up for years, with my only emotions being those of hate towards the village. I'm no more complacent than a pack of hungry wolves."

"So now that your pitiful attempt to kill me has failed." At that moment another Shinobi shot from the ground reaching for her leg, without even looking away she weaved hand signs and blasted him with fire. "Make that attempts. What will you do?"

The numerous village shinobi surrounding her all gritted their teeth, either in anger or anticipation. The old village elder however stared at her adversary, a silly smile sitting wide upon her face. She clapped her hands together, and stated "Now that's the Sakura I used to know. The one I've missed so much. I'm glad to see you standing in this village once again. It puts these old regretful bones at ease. Now, obviously I can't give in to your demands, but I can't do anything to you and you can't do anything to me, as per the agreement made so long ago by your good friend Akumu. Now if you will please, step out of our village. You have thirty seconds to get out of here before we pursue. That should be more than enough time for you to escape. Bring down the earth blockade!"

After a moment's hesitation the ninja standing on the earthen wall deactivated the jutsu. With some reassurance by Ututane, the other shinobi of the Hidden Leaf lowered their guard, their weapons dangling like decorations at their sides. Sakura took the cue and leisurely strolled through the village gates. She made a slow turn, her face blank of emotion as she gazed at the village behind her. "Fire Style: Ash Port" she said. Her body ignited into flames burning softly for a few minutes as she turned to dust. The ashes did not fall however, but lingered in the air until they shortly soared across the vast afternoon sky, their light gray color vanishing quickly in the global orange overhang.

Seconds passed like hours before the silence was broken by a mighty crash. The shinobi turned like whirlwinds, weapons drawn and hands in position for weaving handsigns. A large dust cloud billowed from the center of the square. As it cleared a crater could be seen, sharp rock pillars sprouted from its center, torn from the earth it once called home. "WHO GAVE YOU THE AUTHORITY TO MAKE SUCH A DECISION UTUTANE?!" Screamed a voice from within the dust cloud. As the last fleeting bits of sand blew away in the wind, a tall young woman could be seen. It was none other than the Hokage herself, Tsunade. Veins pulsed out from her temple as she gritted her teeth in evident fury. "EXPLAIN YOURSELF UTUTANE, NOW!"

Ututane closed her eyes, her smile refusing to waiver. "You ask me who gave me the authority? Why, it was the third Hokage. Grant it, it was an order from long ago, but the order still stands. It is my duty to uphold his decision, unless you overturn them of course, which you have not."

"The third Hokage ordered something like this?!" she seethed. Ututane's explanation had done nothing to ease Tsunade's rage. Instead it had only acted as a catalyst, making it stronger. To believe the third Hokage would allow such madness to happen in this village was absurd. But the fact remained, Ututane was many things, but she was not a liar especially when it had to do with the Hokages.

Forcing herself to calm down she gave orders to everyone to get back to work, as well as for Ututane to return with her to her new quarters.

The room was a rather large wooden structure about the size of a warehouse. Inside pieces of expensive hand crafted furniture, silken rugs, and other bits a baubles littered throughout. A blank unfurnished space littered with boxes and useless construction equipment proved that the room was not yet complete, but very near so.

"It's nice to come into your office without the smell of heavy incense mixing with alcohol everywhere." said Ututane. Her casual smile still refusing to fade.

Spare me Ututane. I don't like having idle chit chat with you on a good day. Now is definitely not the time to piss me off. Especially when I'm already so mad. Now, as of this moment whatever rules or regulations were placed on the events of today are now to be imparted to my knowledge. Do you understand?" Tsunade sat behind her wooden desk, her hands held together under her chin as she waited patiently for Ututane's reply.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that Lady Hokage." Searing with even more anger than before Tsunade stood from her seat glaring at the ever so stubborn village elder.

"AND WHY THE HELL NOT?!" she screamed her face taut with anger.

"Because of this." Shock racked Tsunade's face as she stared at this new reveal. The village elder stood there with her tongue lolling out of her mouth, a black curse mark easily distinguished from the pink flesh on which it sat. "Because of this Tsunade, I cannot speak. It is an old curse mark. And old and powerful one that does not fade even after it's caster dies. I have had it for far too long but now events are in motion that will finally erase it forever."

"So what? You're telling me there isn't a single person in this village who can tell me what's going on?" she said closing her eyes and leaning back in her chair.

"There is one, though you'll be hard pressed to get any information out of her." Ututane said.

"Who is she?"

"Do you know the young woman who helps run the noodle stand known as Ichiraku?"

"You mean Ayame? Yes of course the whole village does. What of it? Don't tell me she has something to do with this!"

"Why yes she does. In fact, I'd say soon she'll be leaving the village in much the same way."

Tsunade shot straight up out of her seat. Like a bullet she had crossed the room and was already at though the door. She didn't have time to ask someone to bring her. It would be much faster to just go straight to her and get the information she wanted. She was fed up with being in the dark.

It didn't take long to find her. When Tsunade couldn't find her at the shop itself, she went straight to the market. After all, stores need stock to run their business.

Scanning the crowd she found the bandanna covered brown hair of Ayame. She screamed her name loud and clear, sending a stunned silence through the crowd as she slowly made her way to the young girl, stopping mere feet away.

"Ayame."

Ayame stood quietly picking out groceries and placing them in a bag before responding with a simple "Yes, Lady Tsunade?"

"Tell me Ayame… what do you know about what happened to my apprentice Sakura?"

Hushed whispers raced through the crowd. The people murmuring about the shocking news. Had they heard right? Was Ayame really responsible for what happened at the gate today? Was Sakura's rampage really the doing of this docile noodle girl?

She continued on with her shopping quietly. Picking the last groceries and paying the clerk before turning her attention to the Hokage. "That was nothing more than the repercussions of events that took place a long time ago. In other words, it's old news, at least to those who know."

"Then would you mind letting me be one of the ones who 'know' as well?"

"I refuse."

More whispers traced their way through the crowd. She was speaking so calmly in opposition to the hokage. She even appeared to have a voice filled contained hate. Could this really be Ayame's true colors. Many people weren't surprised, while others just didn't know what to think.

"Watch your mouth little girl or I'll-"

"You'll what?" Ayame said cutting her off. "You already took my world once, can you really be so heartless as to do it again? It doesn't matter anyway. Once the boss is back, he'll crush you if you do anything to me at all."

"This is getting us nowhere. Please Ayame, you're a respected figure in this village, you have to tell me something. There are all sorts of people here who think so highly of you. There are even small children who admire you."

Ayame cringed at the mention of children. It was difficult to see, but Tsunade knew she had struck a nerve. "Fine," Ayame said. "I'll tell you some of what's going on, but the rest you must find out on your own."

"Whatever I'll take it."

Ayame let out a deep sigh, before going to another stall and continuing her shopping. "A long time ago there were six very gifted shinobi prodigies who lived together with their older sister and mother. However after their mother died they were split from each other and scattered across the land. Now however, the child who escaped has come back. And he's looking for all his brothers and sisters to bring home."

"And what does that have to do with you?"

She gave out a small chuckle that almost caused the pack of rice she was holding to spill on the ground. "Why, I'm the Older sister of course."

"What?"

"I'm the older sister, also known as number seven, Ayame the Masis." With that Ayame placed her bags on the ground and turned, her back towards the hokage, and began to take off her shirt. After several gasps from the crowd, her reason for this action was clear. Upon her beautiful unmarked skin was a single blemish never before seen by anyone. A solid black tattoo made of a V and two II's was sat slightly under left shoulder blade.

"That mark… it's just like-"

"Akumu's? Why yes it is. You'll also fine one just like it on Sakura as well."

"On Sakura"

"Yes. Akumu, Sakura and I are three of the seven children who were separated from each other. As I said before, I am number seven, Ayame the Masis. He is number four, Akumu the Sunny Shadow, and she is number three, Sakura the Hellfire Kitten. There are still four more left though, two boys and two girls. At one time you could have found three of them here, but now you can find only two."

"At one time, you mean one of them left?"

"Yes, he was a very skilled shinobi."

"You can't mean… Sasuke?"

A twisted smile crossed Ayame's face as she poured a few coins into the hands of yet another clerk. "Good guess my Lady. You're right, he is number two, Sasuke the Blue Raven."

"I see… so who are the others?"

"Ha, like I would tell you that. You'd hunt them all down and lock them away! I can't fight you so I definitely can't stop you. But I'm not about to help you either. I will give you this hint though, mainly because it will keep the bloodshed to a minimum when those two come back here. Keep a watchful eye on the Hyuga clan. They'll be coming for one of them next. Now, it seems I'm done with the shopping. If that will be all I think I'll be taking my leave, first of this market and later today the village. Goodbye Lady Hokage. When next we meet, it will not be as friends." Ayame hefted her things and walked casually away as though the day's events were commonplace. No one chased after her or bombarded her with questions. All merely stood patient as they quietly let her walk in peace. For a small time after she was out of sight the people continued to stare off in that direction. Though it took some time the villages bazaar was finally filling with the noise of dumb salesman and even dumber customers. Only Tsunade continued to stare in quiet thought for awhile, then she too left for home.

The next day was controversial, just as Ayame said she left the village that night, but not without leaving her father dead in his bed, a knife sticking straight out of his gut. Tsunade was glad Naruto was in the hospital again. She didn't think he'd be able to take this.

Dried and coagulated blood sat splattered across the room like thrown paint. On the knife was attached a yellow note tied with a white string. During the autopsy Tsunade did as her job entails and took a look. It read, _It's finally over Mr. Anbu. Our time together has come to an end. I hated every minute of it, but I loved playing pretend. I'd say I miss you, but I don't want to give you that kind of comfort. Take this knife and commit senpokku. Cleanse yourself of the sins you made so long ago. My only regret is that I can't be the one to do it myself. – Your Make Believe Daughter, Ayame_


	5. Chapter 5: Wrath

**Chapter 5: Wrath**

Another late night passes in the village of Konoha. As always the nightly ballad plays, the sound of hammers and saws sings in the cold night air. And yet, the night is still. Though the song plays its melody, it can't be heard in the heart. Though the carpenters and volunteers work, the work is sluggish and sloppy. The past week's events have caused unrest to settle in the village like a thick fog, plaguing the city and infecting every heart.*

A week has passed since the incident with Ayame and Sakura. The people of the village have been increasingly fearful. Between the war, these strange incidents, and the rebuilding of the town, Tsunade has been forced to work constantly dealing with problem after problem. Many of the villagers have become fearful of another enemy attack on the village. Some have created theories even saying that Sakura was an enemy spy and that another that Pain's attack was her fault. The story managed to gain enough hype that a riot broke out and people began attacking Sakura's mother, forcing Tsunade and other shinobi to step in. Unfortunately though the situation did not improve as her former Sakura's mother revealed herself to be yet another of those who bore the curse mark on her tongue. Immediately after showing the hokage she stated, "I'm so glad it's finally over. I can rest in peace at last. Arigato, Akumu. Thank you."

Those were her last words before she pulled a kitchen knife from inside her purse, slitting her throat and ending her own life in front of an entire crowd of already scared and angry citizens. Now the village is in an absolute uproar and more shinobi are being forced to stay in the village on police duty. Tsunade has even come to fear that if it were to get any worse she may just have to call in a favor from the feudal lords just to keep her village's citizens in check. "Damnit Sakura!", she cursed under her breath. She was sitting alone in her now completed Hokage chambers, looking out over the village. Surprisingly, the room didn't smell like alcohol yet as the chaos kept her from being able to drink. "Why Sakura? What happened in the past to make you behave this way? Is any of that even true? If so, then how can I learn the truth? There has to be someone or something that can help me to know. The villagers are getting harder to deal with every day. Many of them are calling for you to be counted as a rogue ninja. But I can't do that because as far as we know you're still under someone else's control! What do I do…?"

A few light taps are heard on the door. "Come in." she says.

"Good morning… _Lady Hokage._"

"What the-!" The voice was not only unfamiliar but filled with anger and disgust. She spun like a twister facing the unknown man in the doorway, eyes wide with confusion. She looked him up and down. Though she had never met him face to face, his identity was easy to figure out from the description. "Dog eared robe, tattoo of the letters 'IV' on your hand, and a cross as black as fine liqueur strapped to your back. You must be the famous rogue ninja, Akumu."

"Perceptive as ever, aren't you granny?", he chuckles, flipping a chocolate coin. He takes a few steps forward before popping it in his mouth. "Tell me old woman, just how are things in the village? I've heard it's all been rather hectic here lately. I wonder why." He pulls out another coin and starts to eat it.

"Isn't it obvious? It's because of you!", she screams, whipping a kunai straight at his head. Akumu flings the chocolate coin colliding it with the kunai and canceling it out. In the blink of an eye he was behind her. Kunai in his right hand pointed at her back, while the other continued to flip the coin. Neither had had the chance to hit the ground before he caught them.

"What the hell… you're so fast.", she said astounded. His speed was beyond anyone else's she had ever seen.

"Yeah, I am. Even the Raikage is slow in comparison to me. I am number four, Akumu Taka. The fastest of the fox squad. I can move at the speed of darkness, which is ten times faster than the speed of light.*"

"Why are you here?"

"Just came to say hi."

"Very funny."

"Yeah I know! I'd stick around and talk, but my job here is almost done. So long Tsunade."

The hokage tried to hit him as she turned, but to her dismay, Akumu had already vanished. "Damn him." She said. "I'll make you pay for this Akumu. Just you wait. Never piss off Konoha."

…

Naruto sat in his bed a few days later, unmoving. What happened? Sakura ran away, the Hyuga clan was put on lock down, the village was sent into chaos, two people had committed suicide, one of them being the villages top chef and his good friend, and his daughter running off while spouting nonsense as crazy as what Sakura had been saying. Is this his plan? To send Konoha into chaos and watch it destroy itself?  
Naruto didn't know and he didn't care. All that mattered to him was getting Sakura and Ayame safely back to the village. And there was only one way to do that. Defeat Akumu. But for now he had to sleep. Akumu was a powerful foe. Though he hated it, he had to think a way to beat him. Charging in recklessly would only get him killed. He was certain of that.

…

"Huh? Where am I?" Naruto looked around. He couldn't recognize where he was. But the place felt so familiar. He was in a forest, one of the areas right outside of Konoha. Above his head was a tree house, a large one at that, and it seemed to be in use. Light oak wood planks had been well nailed together to create a large structure that spanned several treetops to form one large building. A few rope ladders and makeshift elevators had been fashioned together to allow someone to climb up. Only a few looked used however, as most were covered in moss or were already broken. Whoever lived there didn't appear to have much need of help getting to the top of the trees.

Even from the ground he could tell it wasn't your average tree house. Lights and sounds you'd normally here only in an actual home were coming from it; flickering white hues of a television, the rumbling of a dryer or dishwasher. The only appropriate sound that came from it was the laughter of small children.

And so, curious as he always is, he decided to investigate. Channeling chakra into his feet he dashed up the side of what seemed to be the main tree, jumping and landing on the deck. Crouching low he began to sneak around for a window or keyhole he could peek through. Step by quiet step, Naruto made his way, coming to a stop at a window that had the curtains partially pulled open. Looking inside he could see what seemed to be a quaint living room. He saw the heads of a few children sitting in a kind of circle. A young woman sat in a rocking chair holding a book. _She must be telling a story_ he thought.

He strained his ears but failed to hear anything but muffled grumbles. Since it was getting him nowhere he opted to choose observing what he could see rather than what he could hear. He made a good choice, as what he saw astounded him.

Sitting in a circle were seven tiny children. Each one seemed to have a weird mark somewhere on their body. What was strange wasn't what the children had marked on them, but the way they looked in general. He KNEW those children. He WAS one of those children. He recognized them all. He sat at the front of the group making facial expressions about how big and tough he was. Sakura was lying beside him, completely knocked out. On his right side was a little girl with short black hair and white eyes that was hanging on to every word he said like he was amazing. Without a doubt, that was Hinata. At the very back sat three others, two boys and one girl. One of the boys was trying to sneak French fries, although he was failing miserably. Naruto didn't know how he knew, but that was Akumu beyond a shadow of a doubt. Sitting next to him was a face Naruto could never forget. There was only one guy in the world with that cold cool stare. It was Sasuke Uchiha for sure. A little ways away there was a girl who was trying to help Akumu sneak the food, though she seemed to be even clumsier than he was. Her name was... Yuna. Definitely Yuna. But… who was Yuna? Finally there was the girl who was sitting right next to the young woman. She had a blue bandana on her head, long brown hair, and was the oldest of them all for sure. It was Ayame, no mistake.

A few other things were strange too. Beside his little self, slept two nin… foxes? They were definitely foxes albeit a little above the average size. One had a leaf headband covering its left eye. It seemed to be sleeker with a shinier more, well-kept coat than the other. She also looked as if she had shining white hair that came down from her head. It was pretty and long and glowed like moonlight.

The other fox was a different story. This one had its headband on the right eye, and the other eye had a scar from his temple to his cheekbone. His fur was unkempt and matted. His tail burst out like a frayed rope at the tip and his white hair looked spiky and full of grease. Naruto could have sworn he could smell the animal from there.

"What's going on here?" he whispered to himself. "And why does this make me so happy… and so terribly, terribly sad…" Naruto found himself staring through the window for a long time. He knew who the people inside were. Every face, every movement they made, filled him with nostalgia and despair. Especially the woman in the chair. Her long golden hair that hung to her waist had been tied into a pony tail with his little red ribbon. His red ribbon? What did he mean by 'His' red ribbon? He had never owned a ribbon, much less given it to someone. But, somehow he knew it was his. It made him happy to see it, so much so he wanted to find as many people as he could and gloat about it. He loved her long plain brown and white dress, with its long sleeves and the casual brown shoes underneath. A dress perfectly tailored to fit her, bringing out every proportion. His mother was as beautiful on the outside as she was on the inside.

That's right… his… mother…

All of a sudden the scene changed. Screaming could be heard in the distance. Voices were crying out for him, begging for help. Fire surrounded him on all sides and he was covered in… his blood? He was injured? No that wasn't it. This was other peoples blood. His siblings blood. He was running. Running away from one thing and towards another. He… was trying to save something. But… but what? He had to get there… but where was there?

He looked around. It was the forest. Right, the tree house, that's it. He had to get to the tree house. His younger brother was already ahead of him. All he had to do was make it there too. He and Akumu, (Akumu?) had to help their… their mother and older sister. They couldn't fight. They didn't know how. Blood, so much blood. He had to end the bloodshed. End the betrayal. (Betrayal?)

He stopped. He'd made it. The tree house was right above him. Left foot, right foot, left foot , right foot, right on up the tree. He did it. The house was on fire, he had to hurry. Wind jutsu, blow down the door. Step inside and save his…

"MOM!", Naruto screamed himself awake. There he was, lying in his bed at home. "Was… was that all just a dream?" Naruto shook his head and lay back down. "Whatever, it was obviously a bunch of bull. Like Akumu would be my brother! HA!" Yet as he said this and started to go to sleep, his voice sounded shaky and unsure. Meanwhile shortly after falling asleep, the ghostly apparition of a small ninfox lay down beside him, her hair glowing like moonlight for a few seconds before shedding a tear and fading away.

…

Twilight cloaked the village as Hinata lay in her bed. Twisted nightmares that seemed all too real had plagued her sleep. A tree house filled with children she did and didn't know, being carted away to a strange room, being hooked up to strange machines and tied down to a chair. It was terrifying. Things were already bad enough with the clan on lockdown. Now this dream was keeping her out of what little sleep she got.

Still, it could be worse. That dream could have been real. All of that could've happened to her. Thankfully though it was just a nightmare. A nightmare and nothing more… right? She felt uneasy. She couldn't be sure. The way the dream linked together matched a lot of the things that she had read in that report the previous day. She thought back to the day the Hyuga clan was placed on lockdown.

"What's going on Tsunade?!" yelled Neji. His eyes had become so full of anger he had not even noticed that he had accidentally activated the byakugan. "What's the meaning of this? Why are half the villages Anbu surrounding the clan's property?"

Tsunade put her head down. She was hurting. The Hyuga was a proud clan. Something as sudden as this would certainly confuse them but she didn't have time to waste. Akumu was too strong, for all they knew he was had already been here and left. In that event giving the Hyuga's warning would have been asking for trouble from his accomplice.

"I'm sorry to do this Neji, especially while your uncle is away on a mission, but I had to do this quickly and without warning. Please, call the clan together and I'll explain everything." After that the Hokage spent the rest of the evening explaining the situation and everything that was going on to the clans leaders. She told them of Sakura's mission, of the ninja she encountered, of her coma and assault on Naruto after she returned (which made Hinata wobble a bit), her leave of the village and all the strange things she said, the events with Techui's daughter Ayame, and the suicides of both him and Sakura's mother. "And the worst part is, anybody who knows of the events has a curse mark that can't be removed, even if the caster is killed. We can't get any information out of anyone about what's going on. We've looked in old records and found a few bits that seem to be related to our problem, but it seems almost all traces of the events Sakura and Ayame mentioned have been erased. All we've discovered is that the tattoos that identify the other children won't appear until they're 'awake'."

"Awake?" Neji asked.

"Until they start acting like Sakura and Ayame did. In other words, until it's too late."

"I see. And you have us on lockdown because Ayame mentioned us? Has it occurred to you that we are maybe being fooled by the enemy? This might very well be a ploy to separate the village's ninja so they can strike somewhere else."  
"As a matter of fact yes we did. But again we found scraps and one of those scraps supported her statement. It seemed to be a list of the children's names. But two, Sasuke's and another's, were burnt completely and the others only had surnames; Haruno, Taka, Hyuga, and Eien."

"Eien? Who's that…?" asked Hinata.

"We don't know. It may very well be one of the names of the two people we're missing. In any case that paper gives some backbone to what we're doing, so you can't argue it. Besides, with the village in this state, we have to seem like we're doing _something_."

"As I much as I hate to admit it I agree. This will certainly tarnish the Hyuga's reputation however once this has all blown over I'm sure the clan will quickly regain what it's lost and more. Do you agree Hinata?"  
"Oh uh… y-yes. Yes of course."

"I'm glad the two of you are so approving of this. It makes my job much, much easier I assure you. This won't last long I believe so don't get too comfortable. You all will be back to work very soon you can believe that."

That was over three days ago. Three days and the Hyuga clan household is still filled with Anbu. None of whom bother to hide themselves given all the byakugan users. She turned her head to look out the window. The moon was full, just like in her dream. A cloud started passing it, making it to look like the rabbit was pounding someone's head rather than a future meal.* The sight sent shivers down her spine.

The hokage said to alert her if anything like this happened to anyone in the clan. But Hinata was an influential figure in the clan. If she were to be carted away by the Anbu, how would her clan be able to face the village? Besides, she was sure it was nothing more than a bad dream. No need to waste watchdogs over something as silly as that.

She lay down and closed her eyes, hoping for some more sleep. Fate would not have it however, for her stomach was causing a constant itching sensation. No matter how hard or how fast she scratched, it wouldn't stop. It simply kept getting worse and worse with each passing second. Annoyed she pulled up her nightgown exposing her bare belly. A scream ripped through the night. Lights flipped on and running steps were sounded throughout the clan house as Anbu's and Hyuga's alike burst through her door weapons drawn. But they were pointless and unneeded as they dropped to the ground alongside Hinata's tears.

There, emblazoned on the right side of her belly, was a large black V.

…

"Are you okay?" asked Neji.

"Yes, I'm fine." Said Hinata.

"They're treating you well. Guards aren't giving you any problems?"

"Yes yes, everything's fine."

"Good. Well, let me know if you need anything. Uncles come home so I'm sure this mess will be taken care of shortly. But, visitation has come to an end, so I guess this is goodbye for now."

"Good bye Neji."

"Don't worry Hinata, we'll get you back to the other side of this glass. Just you wait."

Neji rose from his seat to leave. He had been talking to Hinata through a phone and glass panel that separated them. Even though it was to "protect" her, it was obvious she was being treated as a common criminal. They understood lady Tsunade's actions, they just didn't like them. For now the Hyuga clan had to be the bad guys. There was no one else the village had to blame, so for the sake of the village, the Hyuga clan decided that just for now, they'll be at the bottom of the pecking order.

She lay down. No point in staying up. There was nothing to do. There was only one bed and a door that led to the toiletries. (She was glad she was given a cell with a private bathroom. Lady Tsunade had apologized saying that was the best she could do at the moment.)

Sighing, she rolled over, grabbing her self-made Naruto plushie. This plushie she made as a genin always put her mind at ease. Whenever she had it she liked to imagine what Naruto would be doing in a situation like hers. No doubt banging on the doors and trying to get the cuffs off so he could form hand signs make a big rasengan, and blow up everything in the process. She giggled a bit. "It would be nice to see Naruto flailing about like that in here."

Well it looks like you might just get your wish." Came a voice from the shadows. Hinata sat up quick in her bed but was subsequently pushed back down, a hand placed firmly over her mouth so she couldn't scream. "Shh… I'm not here to hurt you. Just calm down. It's me see? It's Sakura."

After taking some time to see what was going on she realized the voice was right. It _was_ Sakura. But what was she doing here? She had left the village. Did she break the genjutsu Akumu placed on her? "Don't worry sis, I'm here to take you home!" She said licking her lips

Evidently she was still under the jutsus effects. "Sakura, I don't know what Akumu did to you but please come home, we can help you. We-"

"Don't let them lie to you Hinata. I'm not under a jutsu. I had a jutsu that was placed on me broken. The same jutsu I'm about to use on you. The same jutsu that will save you too. We'll be together again, just like we were meant to be. Me, you, Akumu, Ayame, Naruto, Sasuke, we'll all be back together at last. The deeds will finally be done. We can go home at last."

"Sakura all the stuff in that dream wasn't true."

"Wasn't it? How can you know? After all you've seen of the shinobi world, how can anything you know be true? How can any of it be false? What are the two concepts but varying perceptions of the same idea or scene? Do you see what I'm saying Hinata?"

"Not at all."

"I see. Well no matter. I just have to perform the jutsu and get you out of here. After that we'll go find number two and number six. Then we should be able to take on number one. To take on boss. Don't get me wrong, he's not nearly as strong as he used to be. But I'm sure that will be a hard fight for you. But with two, four, and me we'll be fine. Alright let's go. Prince charming jutsu." As had been done to her, Sakura leaned down and gently kissed Hinata. It was a small kiss, like one sisters would share. It was nothing like the big kiss Akumu had given her. Still though, Hinata felt violated as she slipped into sleep.

"Well, the easy part's done. Now I have to get her out of here. I'm strong enough to take them all on my own more or less… but you're so kind hearted Hinata that there's no way you'd be able to fight them, even if they are our enemies now. The memories from your others past would make it too hard for you. Poor thing. But don't worry, Akumu and I are gonna get you out." She hefted Hinata over her shoulder. Weaving several hand signs, her body turned to ash and drifted through the cell door conjugating and reforming in the narrow hallway. "All right which way. Ah right, to the left." And Sakura began to lightly jog away.

"Heh things are going pretty smoothly so far." She said as she rounded a corner, only to be faced by five Anbu." Ughy… I really need to keep my mouth shut." Four of the Anbu's rushed her immediately while the other slammed his fist into a button. Somewhere in the distance an alarm started blaring. Footsteps echoed through the hallways as the five shinobi rushed her, reinforcements on their way. Sakura couldn't handle them a huge group. Five, six, even ten was fine. But much more than that and she'd start having issues. Normally it wouldn't be a problem. But she had to protect both herself and Hinata, who was hindering her mobility. Dodging their attacks, she managed a well-placed phoenix flower jutsu and the five Anbu's were disposed of, allowing her to hurry to the rendezvous point.

Countless ninja came from every direction. Sakura was burning through both energy and chakra fast as she continuously had to keep using different jutsus to fight them off. She was glad her fake had spent so much time learning from Tsunade. Had that never happened, she'd never be able to control her chakra this accurately. Every jutsu was perfect, every ninja brought down with just the right amount to crush. Not a single bit was ever wasted. She felt like a goddess, totally in control of the world. Until a Kunai with an explosive note came flying too close to react.

"Shadow shield." A wall of black light burst forth from the ground, blocking the attack. When the wall came down Akumu stood in its place. "Your careless Sakura. At this rate we'll have to change tattoos."

"Sorry Akumu. I didn't-"

Akumu held up his palm. "Don't bother. We have more important things to deal with right now. You hurry and get out of the village. I'll stay here and hold them off. And remember if you end up against number one, just get out of there."

"Right, so long Akumu."

"Just get going already."

And so she took off through the streets of Konoha. Hurrying towards the village gate to make her escape. Akumu had created a clone of her and Hinata to run through the village in a different direction. This caused them to split up their forces. While half of them dealt with Akumu, another half was dealing with both Sakuras respectively. Finally the clone was destroyed but it was too late. Sakura had made it past the gate and was already making her way through the dense Konoha forest.

"Rasengan!" Sakura barely had time to dodge as a flash of orange and blue came soaring out of nowhere. At the spot where she once stood was now a large crater. "That jutsu… only one person could have done that. It must be."

"That's right it's me! Naruto Uzumaki!" Standing in the middle of the crater as smoke billowed out was Naruto, fully dressed and prepared to use sage mode. His eyes were full of anger and sorrow as he pointed his finger up and shouted "That's enough Sakura! I'm bringing you home now! Don't bother saying no, you can't win!"

"Is that honestly what you believe? You poor thing, thinking you can defeat number three when you aren't even back to number one yet."

"Sakura listen to me! Please, we just want you to come home." Tears streamed down Naruto's face as he continued to beg and plead. But time and again Sakura turned him down, refusing to acknowledge any of his requests.

She noticed more and more shinobi appearing around her. They were all ones she knew. Choji, Ino, Shikimaru, Kiba, Neji, Lee, Tenten, Shino, they were all here. They all were speaking their piece, begging her not to go. Rock Lee was almost in tears. He had always had a crush on her. Tenten and Ino looked especially sad themselves. Not surprising, there were barely any kunoichi their age to begin with. Now the one's they were close to were leaving. Sakura couldn't deny it, she was a little sad to leave them all as she placed her hands together and wove some hand signs. But it was only a little. "Fire style: Blazing Amaranth!" A massive wall of fire flew towards the ground searing everything into ash. Naruto, now in sage mode, flew into the air forming two Rasengans, then came flying at Sakura. She barely had enough time to evade as Lee came out of nowhere and kicked her. Finally managing to get her bearings she was too slow to realize there was a shadow at the landing spot. Now she was stuck in Shikimaru's jutsu. Tenten shot strings in her direction, wrapping them around and capturing Hinata. Her former friends all surrounded her with Naruto directly in front, still in sage mode. "Sakura, you're coming home with us.", said Shikimaru. "Don't worry, you'll be back to normal the minute we can fix-" He never made it to the end of his sentence. Akumu had appeared behind him and had taken him out with one quick blow. The others tried to react as well but were downed one by one. Only Naruto with the help of his Sage mode escaped the chaos. On another branch he created two shadow clones, and began preparing a Rasenshuriken.

"Sakura, go, get out of here. I'll take care of him." Said Akumu as he flipped his chocolate coin.

"But Akumu, I thought you said-"

He popped the chocolate coin into his mouth, chewing it's sweetness as though he were in a candy shop, not a battlefield. "Forget it. It's too late not to get him involved. Look at his hand." Sakura did just that and gasped at what she saw. It was a single letter "I" emblazoned in black that was barely being covered by a glove he was wearing. "Just get out of here. I'll handle him."

Sakura took the chance and ran. "Hey!" Naruto screamed. "Get back here."

"Don't bother Fake. I'm your opponent now. So come one show me what you can do."

"Gladly you bastard!" said Naruto as he hurled the Rasenshuriken. Akumu stood there, staring at the wall of power now soaring at him. Undaunted and unafraid. Like he had done this a thousand times before. As Naruto's attack grew closer and closer Akumu crouched down. Just as it was going to hit him, he leaped into the air, and while spinning on his side caught it before he landed. Naruto was shocked. He couldn't move. Someone had managed to catch his Rasenshuriken.

"Shadow style: Dark Copy!" In his other hand a ball began to form. The ball of spinning light grew and grew, gaining spikes that eventually curved. Naruto took a few steps back in even more surprise. In his hand sat a perfect copy of his Rasenshuriken. His mouth dangled open as Akumu took a step forward. "Shadow Style: Shadow Doblé!" And he fired the two shuriken directly at Naruto, who was forced to run away. The two shuriken slammed into the ground causing a massive explosion and sending dust and debris everywhere. By the time the dust had settled, Akumu had vanished. Naruto could do nothing but cry in the middle of the crater, a feeling of uselessness plaguing him. He waited until the others regained consciousness before heading back to the village. Where they expected to simply go home in defeat they were met with a gruesome sight. Before assisting Sakura, Akumu had sent a message to the entire village. Hanging under the sign of the cliff face of the villages five Kages, was Tsunade. Her body lifeless and broken, a rope tied around her neck and nailed into the stone. Under her painted in bright red letters was a message: "Konoha stole our mother, now we have stolen yours. This is the wrath of the Fox clan."

**References**

*A reference to an ancient Japanese story (Depicted in the Capcom game _Okami_) in which a demon possessed an emperor and caused a fog to come from his mouth that carried a plague, killing all of his people

*The never ending story

*In Japanese culture the dark and lighter spots on the moon look like a rabbit using a hammer to mash dough for a certain type of pastry, rather than the face most people see here in America… or wherever you guys are reading from! X3 (You guys should leave comments about your favorite things from your respective countries. Or even leave bits of lore or local legends from where you live. I love hearing new stories!)


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